


In Other Words: I Love You

by fiftyshadesofstony



Category: Marvel 616
Genre: Earth 616 - Freeform, Getting Together, High School Teacher AU, M/M, Peter Parker is a match maker, bi steve rogers, bi tony stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:54:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 40,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24460036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiftyshadesofstony/pseuds/fiftyshadesofstony
Summary: Steve Rogers was happy enough to have found his first big boy job after the Army: working as a P.E. teaching assistant at Midtown High School. The first person he meets on his first day ends up leading him to a robotics team assistant coach position, and the most unexpected love story of Steve's life.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 28
Kudos: 161
Collections: Captain America/Iron Man Reverse Bang 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> After MONTHS of hard work and research, countless late nights, and texts to friends about this story...IT'S FINALLY DONE!
> 
> I am so beyond excited to share this story with the world, and for everyone to see the amazing artwork that goes along with it this labor of love. 
> 
> Firstly, I want to thank [Stevie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoySwordsman) for being the best artist a gal could ever work with. I've loved getting to work with you and getting to know you. Thank you for working so hard and being such an amazing artist and friend! <3
> 
> Secondly, I want to thank both my husband, my best friend Anneka and [Nadine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/firebrands). These three are the world's best beta readers and without them, this story truly would have been a MESS! 
> 
> Thanks so much for checking out this story and the artwork that goes along with it. I hope you all enjoy the ride!
> 
> Artwork can be found [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24446635)!

Steve sat in his car trying to tell himself to take a deep breath. It was his first day of work as a P.E. teaching assistant at Midtown High, and he was beyond nervous. Luckily, he had a few days of administrative work before the first day of school the following week. Enough time to get his bearings before having to throw a bunch of students into the mix. This was Steve’s first time working as a teacher, let alone spending any real amount of time with a bunch of teenagers. 

He’d been out of the military for 5 years, and finished his degree in Physical Education a little over a year ago. Though he’d found a job working at a local gym, he learned fairly quickly that he needed something more substantial to get out of the paycheck to paycheck cycle he’d found himself living in. He remembered the day he’d gone to visit his best friend Bucky and his fiancee, Natasha, at their apartment a few months before. Steve had been feeling beyond discouraged, seeing the minimal amount of money in his bank account after paying his bills for the month. 

“What’s up, Stevie?” Bucky had asked, worried. 

Steve gave a sad smile in response before sighing. “I just...I feel like I’m breaking my back just to barely scrape by. I know I could be doing something I actually enjoy that pays enough for me to be able to make ends meet and have a little extra left over.”

“I’m sure there’s something out there for ya, Stevie,” Bucky encouraged.

“I am too,” Steve agreed, “I just have absolutely no clue what that job is or how to find it.” 

The two men sat there, quietly racking their brains for ideas when Natasha walked into the living room with a bottle of beer. 

“Don’t think too hard or you two might hurt yourselves,” she joked, taking a swig of the beer before handing it to Bucky. “What are you two thinking up out here, anyway?”

“Stevie’s looking for a big boy job with a big boy paycheck,” Bucky answered, accepting the beer, graciously. 

“Oh, well there’s an opening for a new P.E. teacher at the school where I work. If you’d like, I can get some of the info over to you and put in a good word,” Natasha offered. 

The whole thing seemed so far fetched at the time. Steve sent over his resume, fully expecting for this to be a fruitless effort. To his surprise, though, he’d received a call for an interview not even a full two weeks later. Though he didn’t have much experience, they were able to offer him a teaching assistant position that would eventually lead to a teaching position. The hiring process had been such a whirlwind, he never really had the time to stop and think about how nervous he truly was to be _teaching_ for the first time in his life. 

During his four years in the army before he was discharged, Steve spent his time training to become a strategist. He’d been taught how to truly evaluate and dissect any and all obstacles that came his way, to a point where he tried to solve all of life’s troubles in the same way. His fears about this new job were no different. 

As he sat in his car, Steve closed his eyes and tried making a mental list of every fear he had about his first day on the job, then he tried assessing ways to deal with each fear. After less than a minute, Steve heard a knock at his car window and jumped. His eyes went wide in shock, as he looked out to see a man with floppy brown hair and glasses that covered the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. 

“Hey, just checking to make sure you’re alright...looks like you’d fallen asleep in there,” the man said. 

Steve rolled down his window and cleared his throat in an effort to calm himself down before he spoke. “I’m good...just...trying to collect myself before starting the day.”

“Alright,” the man said, giving a slightly suspicious look. “Well, I guess I’ll see you around.”

Steve watched as the man walked away, letting out a breath he hadn’t known he had been holding once he was alone again. _Now’s as good a time as any_ , Steve thought to himself before finally leaving the car. As he walked into the school, he found his way to the front office, stopping at a desk occupied by a young brunette woman. 

“How may I help you?” The woman asked without looking up from what she was working on. Steve took a second to observe her desk and noticed a name plate: _Ms. Hill_.

“Ms. Hill, I’m Steve Rogers. I start my first day as the new P.E. teaching assistant today.”

It took a moment before Ms. Hill finally looked up from her computer, but once she did, she offered a small smile and a single nod. 

“Please, call me Maria,” she said, standing to offer her hand. “Nice to meet you, Steve. If you could, just follow me to the principal's office.” 

Steve moved to walk behind her, thinking that he hadn’t been this nervous to meet with a principal since he was in high school himself. 

Once at the door to the office, Maria knocked twice before stepping inside. “The new P.E TA is here to meet you,” she said, taking a step back and gesturing for Steve to go ahead into the office. He gave a nod in thanks before walking into the office and taking a seat at the desk. 

The man that sat across from him was an older, dark skinned man with an eyepatch covering his right eye. Steve had been around his fair share of intimidating men while in the Army, but somehow none of them came close to being as terrifying as this man before him. 

“Nice to meet you, Rogers, is it?” the man asked, opening a folder that looked to contain Steve’s information. “My name is Nicholas Fury, but you can just call me Principal or Fury; either will do. So, our Russian teacher Natasha highly recommended you for this position, despite your lack of experience,” Fury stated. 

Steve wasn’t sure how to respond, but he felt the overwhelming urge to defend himself. “Well, though I don’t have experience working as a teacher, I truly believe that my time in the Army as well as my degree in Physical Education —” 

“Relax, Rogers. I’m not asking for you to prove yourself here, after all you’ve already got the job,” Fury interrupted. Steve snapped his mouth shut and listened. “I just want to reiterate that we’re entrusting you with a lot here and if this doesn’t work out, it’s not just your career that could be impacted. So, as long as you do your best and work hard, we shouldn’t have any problems.” 

Truth be told, Steve wanted nothing more than to slink back to his car, drive home, and hide under the covers in that moment. But he swallowed that feeling, hoping he could summon the bravado needed to continue this conversation. “I appreciate your faith and trust in me, Principal, and I don’t take either lightly. I know how important this job is, and I intend to give 110% to my students and this school as a whole.” 

The two of them sat there in silence for a moment, Steve internally panicking; wondering if he’d said the wrong thing. Fury finally gave a curt nod before standing. 

“Glad we’re on the same page then. If you’ll come with me, I’ll give you a tour of the school and introduce you to the teacher you’ll be working with.” 

Steve silently followed as Fury took him around the school, pointing out areas like the cafeteria and the auditorium, making a stop at the teacher’s lounge. “This is where our laziest employees hide to avoid doing any real work,” Fury said, standing in the open doorway. 

Steve surveyed the room, noticing Natasha sitting at a table with two men, while another stood at the coffee maker. “Listen Sauron, we’ll work harder when you start providing us with real coffee instead of whatever this weak bullshit is,” the man sassed without turning around, just continuing to make his coffee as if he hadn’t just insulted the scariest man Steve had ever met. 

Fury narrowed his eye, before closing it and taking a deep breath. Once he let it out, he turned towards one of the men sitting with Natasha. “Barton, you’re up. Need you to come with me so you can help Steve get started on whatever needs doing before the school year starts.” 

“Aww, but we weren’t done gossiping about which student couples we think made it through the Summer break,” Barton whined. 

“Barton… _now_.” Fury growled out, clearly trying, and failing, to hold in his annoyance. 

Barton quietly grumbled, but stood to make his way towards the door. “Come on, Steve, let’s go before Principal Grumpasauras Rex loses it.” 

Steve cast a look at Fury, seeing the long suffering man pinch the bridge of his nose as he shook his head, before turning to follow Barton. They walked together in silence for several minutes before Steve spoke. “So uhm...nice to meet you, I’m Steve Rogers,” he said somewhat awkwardly. 

Barton turned to face Steve and Fury, continuing to walk, backwards. “Nice to meet ya, the name’s Clint! And let me tell you, you’re one lucky SOB to get to be working with me —”

“Barton…” Fury warned. Clint crossed his arms in a huff and frowned. “What?! I’m just stating a fact. I’m arguably the best P.E. teacher in the entire world, so the man is lucky that I’m taking him under my wing. To guide him on this journey of both knowledge and fitness.” Clint finished on a whisper, clutching his hands to his chest and looking wistful, as if the love of his life just asked for his hand in marriage. 

Fury looked on, unamused, before turning toward Steve. “Looks like this is my stop. I’ve had enough of these fools for one morning, so have fun with…” Fury paused to look Clint up and down before turning back to Steve. “...this whole situation.”

Clint gave an indignant huff, before throwing an arm around Steve’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about him, he pretends to be a meany, but he’s really a big ol’ softy. Anyway, c’mon, let me show you our office!” 

Steve continued to walk with Clint, somewhat stunned by the interactions he’d witnessed over the last ten minutes. Though he’d been good friends with Natasha since she and Bucky had begun dating years ago, she was the only teacher he knew. Somehow, it hadn’t occurred to him that her personality off the clock was the same as during work hours. Here Steve was, a 27 year old man, realizing for the first time that teachers were regular people too. He felt a little silly, but couldn’t help the small smile this conclusion put on his face. 

“What’s got you so happy?” Clint asked, as they finally made it to the gymnasium doors. 

“Oh, I just...you guys seem like a lot of fun. I’m excited to get to know the other teachers here,” Steve answered, honestly. 

Clint opened two of the gym doors, leading the way, but smiling over his shoulder. “Oh boy, you are going to have a _blast_ getting to know the gang!” 

They walked into the dimly lit gym, and Steve took stock of his surroundings. It looked like any other run of the mill high school gymnasium, with the bleachers folded into the wall, basketball court marked out on the floor tiles, and doors towards the back leading to what looked to be offices. Despite all of this, though, for some reason, Steve found himself feeling an unwavering sense of joy, excitement, and gratefulness looking at the room where he’d be spending most of his time over the next several months. 

After being discharged from the Army, Steve didn’t know if he’d be able to truly find happiness in his work ever again. Being in the Army was truly all he’d wanted for so long, and to lose that over something so stupid as breaking his femur while longboarding during his off time, had absolutely crushed him. But standing here, daydreaming about what new possibilities lay ahead of him, was genuinely the first time Steve truly felt like maybe he was meant for this. Maybe there was something else out there for him other than being in the Army. 

When he came back to himself, Steve saw Clint clear across the gym, standing close to a door, waving his arms. “Yoohoo, blondie! Keep up with the tour or get left behind!” Steve rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed at having fallen behind, before walking towards the shorter man. 

They walked into what Steve correctly assumed would be their office space. Clint took a seat at one of the three desks in the long, rectangular room, propping his feet up as he rested his hands behind his head. “Finally, I get to take a load off,” Clint sighed, closing his eyes and settling into the relaxing position. 

“Oh uh...I thought we were supposed to start getting admin stuff done,” Steve asked more than stated. 

Clint opened one eye to peek at him before speaking. “The beauty of having a TA is that _I_ get to take a load off, while _you_ get started on admin stuff. Call it a training exercise!”

Steve just shook his head and rolled his eyes, taking a seat at the desk closest to Clint’s. As he started looking through the stack of paperwork in front of him, Steve knew, now more than ever, that he was going to like it at Midtown High just fine. 

************

“Natasha….Natasha, Natasha, Natasha!” Tony yelled, practically running down the hallway looking for the foreign language classrooms. Once he finally found the room he was looking for, he burst through the door. “NATASHA!” Tony yelled, clearly scaring the red head as she sat at her desk. 

“Good lord, Tony. What?!” Natasha asked, barely hiding her annoyance as she turned her chair towards the door.

“Well...first of all, I am _winded_. Who knew running across the school could really take it outta ya?” Tony asked, taking a seat in the front row of desks. 

“I mean...literally everyone,” Natasha answered under her breath. She gave Tony a moment to catch his breath before gesturing for him to continue. 

“Oh...yeah. So, I was minding my business in the parking lot, when I saw this gorgeous hunk of sexiness dead in his car.” 

“ _WHAT_?” Natasha asked, jumping to her feet at the thought of someone hurt. 

“He wasn’t actually dead, relax,” Tony huffed, “he was just sitting there with his eyes closed and not moving. So I knocked on the window to ask if he was okay and he said he was just collecting himself before getting the day started. Do you know what that means?!”

The two of them looked at one another in silence for a solid minute before Tony rolled his eyes. “It means he _works_ here.”

Natasha considered this for a moment. “You’ve never seen him before?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. Tony shook his head in response. 

“What did he look like?”

“Blonde, buff, blue eyes that would make the water surrounding the Maldives jealous,” Tony rattled off, ticking each trait off on his fingers. 

“Oh, this is gonna be fun,” Natasha breathed.

When Tony looked up, he saw the massive grin on her face. “What?” he asked, slightly terrified. 

“Nothing _détka_ , why don’t we go get coffee in the teacher’s lounge and you can tell me all about this new tall, blond and handsome.”

Natasha pulled Tony out of his seat, linking arms with him. “How’d you know he’s tall,” Tony asked. 

The smile on Natasha’s face somehow grew impossibly wider. “I don’t know, just a hunch.”  
\---  
“I don’t know how many times I have to keep telling you, Brucie, but I’m going to need your help finding my mystery man,” Tony said, exasperated. 

“I’m going to keep asking you ‘why’ until you actually give me an answer!” Bruce replied, equally as done with his friend.

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “I need your help, Bruce, because since mentioning him, Nat won’t stop smiling like a weirdo, and Clint…” Tony paused, casting a glance at the blond, “well, he’s just useless.” 

“Hey! I am not!” Clint whined, looking around the table at Bruce and Natasha for their agreement.

Natasha just pat his hand and shook her head, affirming that Clint in fact was not useless. 

Tony scoffed and turned towards the coffee maker. He didn’t understand why everyone was wasting time on such unimportant details. The longer it took to sort this shit out, the longer it would take for Tony to be reunited with Mr. Hot New Guy. He wanted to explain just as much, when he heard Fury make some comment about lazy teachers in the lounge. “Listen Sauron, we’ll work harder when you start providing us with real coffee instead of whatever this weak bullshit is,” Tony retorted, promptly checking out of the conversation that followed, since it seemingly had nothing to do with him. 

Once Tony turned around, he noticed that Clint had left. He just shrugged and took the now empty seat. “Look, I know I seem to really be harping on this, but if either of you had seen this guy, you’d understand why I seem like such a thirsty creep over this.” Tony frowned as Bruce and Natasha shared some kind of amused look. “Well what the fuck is that look for?!” Tony asked, annoyed. 

“Nothing. It’s...nothing. We’ll help you, okay Tony?” Bruce offered, softly. 

Tony looked at his friends, suspiciously, but eventually just shrugged and gave them a smile. “Okay, good. Now that we’re all on the same page, we need to figure out how to get me and Sexy McHot Stuff in the same room once we figure out who he is.”

“I think Nat might be able to help with that,” Bruce said, again, looking at Natasha with a smile. 

“Why’s that?” Tony asked, knowing full well what answer he’d get. 

“It’s a hunch,” all three of them said, Bruce a little slower than the others. 

Tony just smiled as he lifted his coffee cup to take a sip. “You guys seem to have a lot of hunches lately. You better hope they’re right.”  
\---  
Somehow, Natasha, that sneaky little detective, managed to not only find the new blond hottie, but also got him to agree to attend their ‘first day of work’ celebratory happy hour. Or at least she said she had anyway. Tony sat at the long high top table in the middle of the bar’s outside area, freaking out at the sudden realization that there could be _another_ new blond male employee at the school that Natasha may have mistaken for the object of his thirst. Before he could get his phone out to text Nat about providing adequate confirmation that she indeed invited the right hot blond guy, he spotted Bruce, Nat and another teacher, Thor. 

“Tony, great to see you,” Thor said in a booming voice, pulling Tony into a hug. 

“Yeah yeah, Mr. Muscles, great to see you too,” Tony croaked out, trying not to be crushed to death in his friend’s arms. “Enough with the pleasantries. Nat, how do I know you invited the right guy to this happy hour?”

“I mean...you don’t,” Nat answered, giving a small smile. “Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.” 

“Ugh, you guys are the fucking worst,” Tony said, walking away from the table to order a drink at the bar. As he stood there waiting for his soda water with lime, Tony saw someone come up beside him out of the corner of his eye. 

“I’ll have a Sam Adams please,” the voice beside him ordered. 

A small smile spread across Tony’s face as he recognized that voice. “You’re gonna need something a little stronger than that if you wanna make it through the school year,” Tony suggested, turning to finally take in the man he’d first seen earlier in the day. 

“Well I figure I’ll stick to the lighter stuff until I actually have to start spending time around any kids,” the man replied. 

That startled a genuine laugh out of Tony. “Good to know you’re funny when you’re actually awake,” he said, reaching for his drink as the bartender dropped off the glass. He took note of the slight blush on the blond’s face at the memory of that morning. 

“Uh, yeah, I was really just trying to calm my nerves for my first day. Turns out I didn’t really have much to worry about in the first place.” 

“Trust me, between the students, their parents, other teachers, and Fury, you’ll have plenty to worry about.” 

“I guess now would be as good a time as any to just nope the fuck out of this job then, huh?” the blond asked, smiling as he took a swig of his beer. 

_It’d be a shame to lose the second hottest person working at this school_ Tony thought. In the interest of not being a total creep, he just smiled back. “I didn’t get your name.” he stated, taking a sip of his own drink. 

“Steve,” the blond said, offering his hand. 

“Tony,” he said as he took the hand and shook, “come on over to the table and I’ll introduce you to the rest of the group.” 

Tony didn’t even have a chance to open his mouth, once they got to the table, before Natasha practically skipped over to throw her arms around Steve’s neck in a hug. She turned to the rest of the group, and clapped her hands together. “Group, this is Steve, my fiance’s best friend. Since you’re all adults you can introduce yourselves.”

As Steve moved to meet the other men at the table, Tony stood next to Natasha with his jaw on the floor. “Your fiance’s _best friend_?!” Tony asked, incredulously. 

Nat just laughed and gave him a pat on the back. “I told you this was going to be fun.”


	2. Chapter 2

Today was the day. It was the very first day of the school year, and Steve somehow managed to find himself back where he’d started: sitting in his car, eyes closed, trying to calm his nerves. Just like last time, a knock on the window came, scaring the absolute shit out of him. He looked up to see a now familiar face. 

“We’ve gotta stop meeting like this,” Tony said, beaming at him. 

Steve smiled back and stepped out of his car, making the walk into the school with Tony. 

As Tony began talking about the ridiculous interaction he’d had at the coffee shop on his way into work, Steve couldn’t help but think just how crazy the last week of his life had been. Being thrust into a new career was one thing, becoming part of a new friend group was another. But getting to know _the_ Tony Stark was something else entirely. 

Steve thought he knew quite a bit about Tony from what he’d seen on the news or in magazines, but the biggest surprise was just how wildly off base every video or picture of him had ever been. Tony was breathtakingly gorgeous in person, so much so that Steve hadn’t even recognized it was actually him initially. Tony was also nearly as tall as Steve. He had the most beautifully mussed up chocolate brown hair. His eyes were the purest shade of blue that Steve had ever seen. To say he was infatuated with Tony would be...a grave understatement. 

After that first happy hour with their friends, Steve practically ran home, itching to draw his new colleague. He drew solely based on memory alone, now knowing that any images he’d seen before weren’t to be trusted as reference. How could they be? Now that he knew what it was like to witness such an untamable beauty in person, he knew there was no way anything could ever capture anything less than a dull imitation of the real thing. Even so, he tried his best, spending hours trying to get his drawing just right. In the end he settled for his imperfect rendition, but promised himself he’d work to one day at least come close to capturing the magnificence of Tony Stark on paper. 

Steve was an absolute mess. He knew it, but he hoped no one else had picked up on his embarrassing school boy crush. He tried, he really really did, to rein it in whenever they were with friends. The looks of adoration and wonder he’d cast, just listening to the brunet talk, were sure to get him in some kind of trouble if he didn’t cool it. He tried to keep the daydreams to a minimum while working on the seemingly endless amounts of paperwork from Clint. He thought he’d been doing a fine enough job until Bucky brought it up. 

“Word on the street is you’re sweet on our resident physics teacher,” Bucky said from under the hood of his car. Steve spluttered, trying to grasp at any word in the English language that might get him out of this, but was only greeted by a laugh from his friend. “Sounds like the word on the street is correct.”

After that, it was all Steve could do to not make himself look like a lovesick idiot around Tony. He hadn’t been able to hide his new crush from his friends, but maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to hide it from the object of his affections. 

The sound of Tony’s laughter brought Steve back to the current moment. “Isn’t that insane?” the brunet asked. 

“Definitely,” Steve answered, giving a chuckle that was more nervous than anything else. Thankfully, Tony didn’t seem to notice. 

“Right? What kind of psycho ruins perfectly good espresso with 5 shots of vanilla, 5 shots of hazelnut and a shit ton of white chocolate syrup?!” 

Steve had to school his reaction, remembering that this was information he was supposed to be hearing for the second time. He managed to keep up with the rest of Tony’s banter during their walk, right up until they made it to the hallway that split off leading to the science wing and the gym. 

“Welp, I guess this is my stop. See you at lunch?” Tony asked, sounding close to something hopeful. 

Steve felt something tug at his heart at the thought of Tony being excited to spend any amount of time with him. “Yeah uh...I’ll be there,” he answered, hoping his face wasn’t as red as it felt. 

“Great! Good luck and have fun dealing with the gremlins!” Tony said, bouncing on his toes as he turned to walk towards his classroom. 

Steve just stood in the hall, looking after the man who was absolutely, definitely _not_ giving him butterflies. Before he had the chance to think much more on it, he saw students start to trickle into the halls. Steve went on his way towards the gym to get ready for his first day of school.   
\---  
Steve found himself briskly walking from the gym to the science wing. He was really hoping that if he moved fast enough, he’d be able to catch Tony before he left for the day. Steve had gotten tied up earlier, getting ready for his post lunch class, and completely missed lunch. He’d had a knot in his stomach just thinking about Tony possibly sitting there waiting for him, thinking that he’d been stood up. He had to explain himself and hope that the brunet would accept his apology. Steve rounded the corner walking towards the science classrooms, to see Tony locking his door. As he turned around, he jumped, clearly startled to see Steve. 

“Jesus Christ Steve, you scared the shit out of me!,” Tony exclaimed, clutching his chest. 

“Sorry I...sorry,” Steve stammared, “I just wanted to make sure I got here before you left so I could apologize for missing lunch today.” 

Tony looked puzzled for a moment before realization hit. “Oh yeah, lunch! I got tied up with some stuff and didn’t get a chance to make it out of my classroom. So if you missed lunch too then no harm no foul.” 

Steve stood there, dumbfounded. _Of course Tony wasn’t worried about their missed lunch...thing. It’s not like this was meant to be some kind of date; it was just two friends hanging out over lunch, no big deal._ he thought. Steve just offered a smile, now noticing the somewhat worried look on Tony’s face as they began walking towards the parking lot. 

“Okay, great!” Steve began. “Well if you’re free, would you like to grab a drink? I’ve got a lot to process from today, and I find that’s best done with beer and good company.” 

“I wish I could, but I just got news that the team I coach needs an assistant this year otherwise we won’t be able to participate in competitions. Something about there needing to be at least two teachers during away trips or some dumb shit like that. I don’t know, but now I have to figure out who has the bandwidth to take this on.” 

“I can probably help, what team is it?” Steve offered, praying he didn’t sound too overly eager. 

“It’s not a sports team, Steve. I coach the robotics team.” 

“Okay, well...I can help with that.” 

That stopped Tony dead in his tracks. He gave Steve a skeptical look “You wanna help me coach the _robotics_ team? No offense, but do you know anything about robotics? Do you even _like_ robotics?”

Though Steve was fully aware he was only offering his help because of the burgeoning crush he had, he still saw Tony’s assessment as a challenge. He wanted to offer his time out of the goodness of his heart, and because it was an excuse to spend more time with the brunet, but now he had something to prove. 

Steve squared his shoulders and lifted his chin. “I don’t know much about robotics, but every team needs someone who’s good at assessing strategies, no matter what game that team is playing.”

Tony’s eyes narrowed and he bit the inside of his lip, considering what had just been said. After a moment, though, he gave a curt nod. “Alright.”

“Alright?” Steve asked, all of his previous confidence faltering. 

“Well...yeah. You make a good point, but also you seem to really want to be our assistant coach and Lord knows I don’t feel like putting more into finding someone than I already have. So, welcome to the team.” Tony said, clapping Steve on the shoulder before continuing the walk to his car. 

“Oh wow, okay well..thanks, Tony. Is there anything in particular I need to know before our first...meeting? Practice?” Steve asked, a little unsure of whether this was more of a sport or just a club. 

“Well, someone did say something about grabbing a drink bby , and now that my afternoon has just been freed up, I’d love to hijack your processing session to tell you all about it!”

************

“So, explain to me again why I had to sit here alone, waiting for you to show up 20 minutes late?”

“Rhodey, honey bear, love of my life, I already said I was sorry, can’t we just leave it at that?” Tony asked, making puppy dog eyes at his best friend. 

“You aren’t telling me because you’re trying to hide something, so no, we can’t just _leave it at that_.” Rhodey said, smiling at the scowl on Tony’s face. 

James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes had been Tony’s best friend since college. He’d been by Tony’s side through all of his ups and downs; the good, the bad, the ugly, and the down right horrendous. Tony knew that no matter what he could count on two people in life to always be there for him, and one of those people was Rhodey. 

At the moment, though, it felt like Rhodey was the worst enemy Tony had ever encountered. As the man continued to look at him expectantly, Tony’s scowl deepened. 

“Scowling like that isn’t going to get me off your case. It will, however, give you deeper lines in your face so keep at it. Doesn’t matter to me if you look like a wrinkled mess when you’re older.” 

“Firstly, thank you for refusing to classify 33 as old—”

“For the last time, Tony, you’re not _old_ —”

“Secondly, you have a great point. Just know that I’m only giving in to your terroristic demands for the sake of saving the beautiful face that the good Lord blessed me with.” Rhodey rolled his eyes, no doubt regretting ever becoming friends with the brunet in the first place. “If you _must_ know why I was late, it was because I was meeting with another teacher about them possibly being the robotics team assistant coach.”

Rhodey perked up at that. “Oh? I didn’t realize you were looking for an assistant coach. I’ve got a little more free time outside of the Marine Corps JROTC than I did last year; I would have stepped up if you needed the help.” He said, reaching for the glass of water the waiter had just placed on the table, and giving a nod in silent thanks. 

“Well, I only found out today that I needed another teacher to help out if we plan to do any of the out of town tournaments.” Tony replied, praying that the conversation would just end there. 

“Who’d you get to help out?” Rhodey asked, eyes narrowing as Tony flinched at the question. After a moment of consideration, Rhodey’s eyes went wide with realization. “Hot gym TA guy?! No! Does he even know a thing about mechanics or engineering?!”

“Aww Rhodey, come on,” Tony whined, clearly not wanting to do this. He knew how bad it looked, letting the cute new guy help out for no other reason than because he’s cute. The last thing Tony wanted or needed was to be chastised for something he was already beating himself up for. 

“You can’t just go around offering coaching positions to people just because you want to bang them, Tony,” Rhodey spoke in a hushed tone. 

“Ugh, that is literally the opposite of what I did! He missed lunch today—”

“Jesus, you guys already have lunch dates?!”

Tony’s eyes shot daggers at his friend before he continued. “He missed lunch today, and I was definitely a little pissed because I had to sit all by myself like some kind of loser.” He said, remembering the lie he told Steve in an effort to not show how sad he’d actually been about their missed midday catchup. “He invited me out for drinks to make up for it, but I told him I couldn’t because I needed to find an assistant coach for the team. When he offered, I was just as skeptical as you are but then he looked like he was ready to fight me to prove that he could do this so I said why the hell not.” 

“So the fact that you want to bang him has nothing to do with it?” Rhodey asked, lips quirked up in a small smile. 

“That might have been like...12% of the reason why I agreed,” Tony offered, unfolding his napkin to place it in his lap. 

He looked up to see Rhodey just shaking his head. “Alright well I hope he works out, for your sake and for the team’s. Those kids deserve to have good, competent coaches.”

“Yes, mom,” Tony sassed, knowing that if things fell through, Rhodey would be there to help no matter what. “If you’re done lecturing me, I’d like to talk about the fact that two of my students are in a love triangle with one of your JROTC students.”  
\---  
Tony sat at his desk, tinkering with one of the robots from the year before. He’d brought it out in the hopes that he could use it to help teach Steve some of the basics of engineering, and wanted to make sure that it was in decent working order. 

The conversation he’d had with Rhodey, while somewhat annoying, really made Tony think. He wanted to give Steve a chance to prove himself, but he also wanted to give his team the best chance possible at having a successful season. The only way that was going to happen was if Tony did the work to make sure that Steve was at least somewhat familiar with robotics. 

As Tony continued poking around with some of the circuit boards connected to his little bot, he heard a knock on the door. “Come in,” he said without looking up. After a moment of silence, he looked up to see Steve standing there, looking at him with a small smile on his face. “Uh...hi,” Tony spoke, feeling his cheeks heat a bit under the blond’s gaze. 

“Hey, sorry, I didn’t want to disturb you. It looked like you were pretty focused on whatever it is you were doing.” Steve said, looking somewhat bashful as he moved to stand in front of Tony’s desk. 

“Well, now that you’re here, I wanted to ask if you had a chance to look over any of the stuff I sent you?” Tony asked.

“Yeah I looked over some of the documents you sent over and, honestly, a lot of it just looked like Greek to me. I’m really not familiar with code or engineering terminology enough to know what I’m looking at.” 

Tony could see the slightly defeated look on the blond’s face. He tried to school his own reaction, knowing that it wouldn’t help anything if Steve detected a hint of disappointment in his next question. “So you didn’t understand any of it? Not even the videos from last year’s events?”

Steve thought about it for a moment. “Well, actually, I did notice a few things in the clips that you sent.”

“Oh?” Tony asked, hopeful. 

“Yeah, your game plans weren’t nearly as efficient as they could have been. In at least three of the five competitions you were in, the team missed several chances to score game ending goals.”

Tony sat there, a cross between dumbfounded and a little insulted. “What do you mean? We won a significant amount of matches last year.”

“Yeah, you won, but you could have done it in an easier, quicker way that would have likely put less strain on your bots, ultimately prolonging the longevity of the machines the team uses.” Steve said, matter of fact. 

Somehow, it had never occured to Tony that how quickly they won their matches would have a significant impact on anything, let alone on the bots themselves. His mind was suddenly swimming with new ideas and possibilities. “If I pull up the clips, could you point out the instances where we could have scored and how we could have done a better job?”

Steve smiled brightly at the request. “Of course I can,” he said, making his way around the desk, and leaning in on Tony’s side to get a good look at the computer screen. 

As the videos came up, Steve began explaining in great detail where the team’s performance was lacking and how they could have improved. With every new observation and critique, Tony’s mind got farther and farther away from thoughts of the robotics team. As he watched Steve’s whole being light up with excitement at analyzing the teams approach to each match, he realized that he was falling for the TA and only one thought came to mind.

_I’m in big trouble_.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a long time since Steve had gotten a chance to have an afternoon just him and the boys. With Sam working at the VA and Bucky splitting time between wedding planning, work at the garage, and physical therapy for his new arm it was hard to find the time to do anything other than just sitting on each other's couches. So Steve was all too happy to accept Sam’s invitation to go axe throwing, because he really did miss them. Truth be told, he also needed a distraction from a certain blue eyed brunet who was currently occupying Steve’s every waking thought. 

When Steve had offered to be the robotics team assistant coach, he honestly thought it was just going to be soccer for robots. But after watching a handful of matches from the previous year, he soon realized just how unique this was. The students had to build and program these machines, then guide their bots through soccer-like games. It wasn’t just a matter of who scored the most goals so much as it was about who built the best bots that were up to the task. The nuance and skill that was required of these teens was nothing short of astonishing. He wasn’t entirely sure why Tony had agreed to let him be his assistant coach, but Steve was a little more than proud knowing that with his background in strategy he was able to offer something of value to the team. 

Then, there was also the added benefit of getting to spend copious amounts of time with Tony. Since taking on the role, they’d exchanged numbers and managed to text each other every single day. Granted, the majority of those texts were links to videos and articles that Tony thought might help prepare Steve for the first team meeting, but that was better than nothing. 

Steve stood back and watched as Bucky and Sam threw their first round of axes. While waiting his turn, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He saw a text from Tony and couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face when he read the message.

Tony S.  
  
**Yesterday** 5:29 PM  
Okay, thanks. I’ll tak a look a the videos later tonight  
  
Take*  
  
**Yesterday** 6:04 PM  
Alrighty, let me know if you’ve got any ???s  
**Yesterday** 10:12 PM  
So, I understand the general concepts going on, but I think I won’t truly understand it until I get my hands on a bot  
  
**Today** 1:14 PM  
Wanna come to my workshop tomrrow? I need to get some stuff together for the team meeting Monday anyway, so you’re more than welcome to tinker.  
Thanks, Tony. I think that’d be a great help.  
  


“What’s got you smiling like a dope over here?” Sam asked, trying to look over Steve’s shoulder.

The blond quickly locked the screen and pulled the phone into his chest. “Nothing. Quit being such a nosy Nancy,” Steve joked, moving to pick up an axe to take his turn. 

“I bet it was a text from Stevie’s new crush,” Bucky whispered loudly to Sam, making sure Steve heard him. 

“Stevie’s new crush?! Who is this and why have I not heard about them?!” Sam asked, losing all interest in the axe he was about to throw, in favor of prying into his friend’s life. 

“No one, he’s just a guy from work,” Steve answered, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. He threw an axe, hoping that the bullseye he made would serve as a distraction. 

“Tell Sam his name, Stevie,” Bucky prodded. 

“Yeah Steve, tell me!” 

He knew exactly what his friends were doing, and he was already over it. Whenever there was even a hint of someone new in Steve’s life, his friends would all but shake him down for information on them, then scrutinize everything about them with a fine toothed comb. He wasn’t ready to deal with that with Tony, especially when there wasn’t really a relationship for them to scrutinize in the first place. 

“ _Steeeeeeeeeeve_ ,” Sam whined, “tell me who you have a crush on. Teeeeeeeell meeeeeeeee!”

Sam continued to whine a chant of ‘tell me tell me tell me’ until Steve finally broke. 

“If I tell you, you have to promise to keep your big mouth shut.” 

Sam ran his fingers across his mouth as if to zip his lips shut, and Steve sighed. 

“It’s Tony Stark.” 

“ _Tony Stark?!_ ” Sam yelled, garnering looks from several others around them, as Bucky doubled over in laughter. 

“Ugh, yes, _that_ Tony Stark,” Steve whispered, pulling Sam and Bucky closer to him. “He’s a physics teacher at my school and I’ll be working with him as an assistant coach for the robotics team.” 

“Hmm,” Sam said, rubbing his chin in thought, “you’ve known this guy for what...a week? How do you already have a crush on him?” 

“Enough to offer to be the assistant coach for a _robotics_ team at that!” Bucky interjected. 

“Are you guys done?” Steve asked, clearly past the point of annoyance. 

“We just want to make sure that you’re not moving too fast...again,” Sam began, treading lightly. “You know, like with Sharon…”

“And Batroc. Rachel, and Bernie, and Betty, and Peggy” Bucky listed, ticking off each name on his finger. 

“Enough!” Steve roared as he turned to throw the axe he’d been holding. “What is this, fucking Mambo #5? You don’t have to list every failed relationship I’ve ever had. I get it, I’m a fuck up when it comes to choosing people to love. Can we just get back to throwing sharp stuff at targets and stop putting my love life under a fucking microscope?!” 

Sam and Bucky mumbled their apologies, as they went back to throwing axes. They tried to salvage what was left of their outing and by the end of it, they were all laughing hysterically. 

Despite the day ending on a positive note, Steve had a sour feeling in his stomach about it all. He wanted so badly to forget about what his friends had said, but their words kept floating through his head. He was falling too fast, for someone he wasn’t even sure was into him in the first place. As he walked to the subway, Steve felt his phone vibrate. His stomach twisted in knots once he saw it was a text from Tony.

Tony S.  
  
**Today** 1:14 PM  
Wanna come to my workshop tomrrow? I need to get some stuff together for the team meeting Monday anyway, so you’re more than welcome to tinker.  
Thanks, Tony. I think that’d be a great help.  
  
**Today** 3:01 PM  
Cool, tis a date! I’ll send the address later, see ya around noon  


For all the grief and embarrassment, the doubts and the sadness that Steve had just endured during his time with his friends, none of it meant anything once he felt his heart skip a beat reading Tony’s text. He knew he was likely making more of it than he should, but Steve didn’t care, because tomorrow he’d get to spend the afternoon with Tony Stark, and nothing was more exciting than that.  
\---  
Steve sat on the subway, looking through his phone just trying to keep himself busy. He’d woken up at 5 am, not able to get back to sleep thanks to the nerves he had stirring within him. After an hour of willing his brain to just shut up for a moment, Steve decided to go for a run. In the past, running had always helped clear his mind, but today it just gave him more time to think.

Sam had reached out the night before to apologize again for the way he and Bucky had ganged up on Steve about his crush. After accepting the apology, Steve couldn’t seem to stop himself from gushing about Tony. Sam, bless him, tried to be supportive, but he couldn’t give his well wishes without also giving a word of caution. “Just don’t get too ahead of yourself, man. I don’t want to see you get hurt again,” Sam had said before wishing Steve luck.

_Don’t get too ahead of yourself_ Steve thought as he was on his run. It seemed like every relationship he’d been in was nothing but him getting ahead of himself and ending up tripping into heartache. He wanted to think this time would be different, but every other time had been different...until they all ended up exactly the same way. It was just so hard for Steve to rein it in when it came to having someone to love, and having someone to love _him_. 

_Don’t get too ahead of yourself_

And what was he to say about the fact that he didn’t even know if Tony was remotely interested in him in the first place? He’d done his research, he’d seen and read enough to know that Tony was interested in men and women. But there was nothing in the way of evidence to indicate that Tony wanted anything more than a professional relationship with Steve. That was the thought that kept him up; the fear that wouldn’t let his mind settle, not even for a minute. There was a chance that Steve had put so much hope into something that was never there in the first place, and somehow that hurt more than any other scenario he could imagine. 

_Don’t get too ahead of yourself_

It felt like Steve had already done just that, but he wondered if there was a way around all of this. How could he figure out if Tony had any interest in him? Everything he thought up seemed convoluted and slightly childish, which left him feeling defeated. The thought of just asking the man out crossed Steve’s mind, but he quickly dismissed that idea. When had being direct ever worked anyway? No, he decided, he would just have to come up with a plan to gauge Tony’s feelings, and if he had to enlist the help of Natasha and their friends at work, so be it. But for now, he’d just try to relax and enjoy the day for what it was.   
\---  
Steve stood in front of the building, not able to tamp down the fear that he’d gotten the address wrong. But upon looking up and seeing the massive ‘STARK’ atop the building, he knew he was in the absolute right place. Stark Tower. Tony had asked him to come visit his workshop inside of _Stark Tower_. Somehow, the weight of the fact that Steve had randomly befriended _Tony fucking Stark_ hadn’t truly hit him until this very moment. This was the man who graduated from MIT at the age of 15. This was the man who owned a multi-billion dollar company that helped revolutionize the world. This was the man who was richer than God, who had everything (and anyone) a person could ever ask for at his disposal. Tony was rich, he was famous, he was a certified genius...and yet he’d invited Steve to his workshop…

There were a host of questions that Steve had upon finally giving this massive fact the attention it deserved. For one, why on earth was Tony even working as a teacher at a school in Queens?! Secondly, why was he wasting a second of his time on someone like Steve? The blond didn’t have the time to dive into either of those thoughts before he heard a voice coming out of a key pad at the side of the door. 

“You gonna just stand there looking like a Greek statue, or are you gonna come in?”

Steve recognized the voice as Tony’s but still jumped upon hearing it. “Oh...uh, I…” Steve stammered, feeling his cheeks burning. 

“I mean, you’d definitely bring in business standing out there, but I figure you’d enjoy yourself more on the inside of the building,” Tony teased. “I could be wrong though, I have heard people say they’d rather stare at a brick wall than spend time with me so—”

“I get it, Tony, I’ll come in!” Steve said, his brain finally functioning again. 

“Great! JARVIS will bring you down to the workshop. See you in a bit.” 

At that, Steve heard the sound of the door clicking softly, unlocking for him. He took a deep breath before stepping inside to find an absolutely beautiful lobby. For a moment, Steve itched to be able to draw the lobby, a feeling he knew he’d become familiar with during his time at the tower. He walked up to the security desk, seeing a man with a name tag that read ‘H.Hogan’.

“Good afternoon, how can I help you?” Hogan asked. 

“I’m here to meet with Tony Stark. He said that Jarvis would take me down to the workshop.” 

Hogan looked at Steve with a critical eye, before giving a single nod. “Alright. Elevators are straight ahead,” he said, pressing a button under the desk that seemed to open up the elevator doors. 

Steve stepped into the elevator, looking around for the man that Tony said would escort him, but didn’t see anyone. 

“Hello, Mr. Rogers,” Steve heard a voice coming from seemingly nowhere. He looked around, startled, and heard a laugh come from Hogan as the elevator doors closed. “Sir has asked me to bring you down to the workshop,” the voice continued. 

“Uh...thanks?” Steve replied, still thoroughly confused as to who he was talking to. He rode down in silence, heart beating quickly in his chest. 

Once the elevator stopped, the voice returned. “We have arrived, Mr. Rogers.” 

“Thanks...Jarvis?” Steve asked more than stated as he stepped out into the workshop. Initially, all he saw were tables cluttered with tools and parts, but after a moment, Steve’s eyes locked in on a sight that made his mouth go dry instantly. 

Tony stood at a workstation, wearing nothing but jeans, a black tank and goggles as he worked with a soldering iron. At that moment, lyrics sung by Axel Rose began blasting out over the speakers. 

_Welcome to the jungle, we've got fun and games..._

Steve tried to remind himself to breathe. Between the sight in front of him and the song playing overhead, he thought he might actually faint. Almost as if on cue, Tony looked up and gave a smile that nearly turned Steve’s legs to jello.

_Jungle, welcome to the jungle  
Watch it bring you to your shun n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n knees, knees..._

“Steve! Glad you finally made it down,” Tony yelled over the music. “JARVIS, reduce the music volume by 50%.” he said, seemingly to no one. 

Once the volume was lowered, Steve looked towards the ceiling in astonishment. “Is Jarvis...do you have an invisible butler?”

Tony looked at him momentarily before giving an honest to god belly laugh. Steve would have enjoyed how cute it made the man look, if it weren’t for how stupid he felt for asking the question in the first place. “Invisible butler? No.” Tony began, “A.I.? Yes. I built JARVIS and integrated him into basically every piece of tech I work with as well as my house.” 

“You _built_ something like that?!” Steve asked, completely taken aback. “I’m surprised you haven’t integrated JARVIS into the school.”

“I tried, but that asshole Fury wouldn’t let me,” Tony frowned. “So I had to settle with just having him in my classroom, but that’ll be our little secret.” Tony whispered, bumping shoulders with Steve and giving him a wink before returning back to his work station. 

Steve stood there, mouth agape, waiting for his brain to reboot. He didn’t know what it was that broke him: how gorgeous Tony was or how unimaginably smart he was. Either way, the last five minutes had done absolutely nothing to help quell the raging crush Steve had on the brunet. While he stood there, willing his legs to remember how walking worked, he felt something bump into him. He turned around to see what looked to be a robotic arm with wheels. It held a tennis ball and moved up and down, waiting for Steve to take it. 

“Careful, once you start a game of fetch with him, it’ll never end,” Tony spoke from his station. Steve just smiled down at the bot, taking the ball to throw it, before he finally walked over to where Tony was sitting. 

“I hope I’m not interrupting while you’re in the middle of working on something,” Steve said, looking over Tony’s shoulder. 

“Nope, all I had planned today was working on bots for the meeting tomorrow, so really...you’ve just added a little zest to my day if anything,” Tony said without looking up from what he was soldering. Steve could hear the joy in his voice, though, which made his chest feel warm. 

“Alright well, I don’t want to get in your way, so I can just sit back and watch you—”

“Oh no, absolutely not,” Tony interrupted. “You said you needed to get your hands on one of these bots to understand them. What better way to do that then to build one?” 

Steve looked at Tony, confused. The brunet rolled his eyes, then gave Steve a lopsided smile as he pulled up a stool for him. “Take a seat and watch while I work on building and programming this,” Tony said, pointing to what he was holding, “and then we can get some scraps together to build the actual bot.”

Steve took a seat and watched as Tony pointed out different items and what they did. He’d shown the blond a raspberry pi (which indeed was not a dessert at all) that was used as the ‘brains’ of the bot, an arduino microcontroller and several other small components. After learning about what everything did, Steve decided to build around a raspberry pi with a camera that used visual input to help control the bot. 

They moved over to one of the larger work tables covered in what seemed to be scraps, looking for pieces to use for the outer cover for the bot they were building. Steve settled into his stool and began sorting through what was in front of him, picking out pieces that looked promising. “So, how long have you been at Midtown High?” Steve asked, trying to strike up casual conversation. 

Tony faltered at the question, but recovered quickly. Steve wouldn’t have even noticed the slight stutter in his movement if not for the fact that he was already so hyper aware of Tony in the first place. “Oh, well I uh…” he stammered. 

“You don’t have to answer the question if you don’t want to, Tony, we can talk about something else,” Steve offered, feeling somewhat guilty for bringing up something that seemed like a tough subject. 

Tony cleared his throat. “No, it’s fine, it’s just I don’t talk about it very often, but I’ve been teaching there for about three years now. After my...incident in Afghanistan, I came home and changed the direction of the company. Once those changes were made and the company was stable, I just felt like I didn’t have much more to offer them, plus I was bored. So I got a job as a teacher and here we are.” Tony shrugged off the entire statement, but Steve couldn’t help but stop scavenging for scraps to look at him. 

Tony had a phenomenal job as the CEO of a company on the cutting edge of groundbreaking technology and he was _bored_ so he became a _high school teacher_. In such a short explanation, Tony seemed to let Steve in on something that he didn’t much like to share with others: the fact that he wanted to be where he was _needed_. He came back from being held captive in Afghanistan, surviving being put through a makeshift heart surgery and upon returning, his biggest concern was transitioning into a company that helped people instead of hurting them. Once he’d done that, he just randomly decided to help mold the young minds of tomorrow. It was clear that Tony made light of it all, because he didn’t want to focus on how truly amazing it was of him to make these sacrifices to help improve the lives of others. Steve couldn’t let such a wonderful act go without praise. 

“I’m a pretty firm believer in the notion that sometimes we need to acknowledge and celebrate the selfless acts we do. You might not always want to draw attention to all that you’ve been through, but it’s okay to acknowledge that you’ve done something amazing. That you’re _doing_ something amazing.” Steve said. 

“It’s not that big a deal, Steve. I ran a company and now I teach high school physics. It’s hardly world shattering stuff I’m doing, here,” Tony said, again trying to minimize the gravity of his actions. 

“Well, you might not see how wonderful what you’re doing is, but the rest of us do. And the rest of us are grateful for it.” Steve spoke softly. He didn’t want to harp on the subject much longer, so in an effort to change the topic, Steve pushed his stool back and stood up. “I think I’m done looking through all these scraps if you’re ready to try to put this thing together.” Steve turned to see Tony studying him. He felt exposed under the brunet’s gaze, but for some reason he couldn’t turn away. 

Thankfully, after a moment of staring at each other, Tony stood and led the way back to the station with the components Steve had chosen to work with. 

Steve watched on in silence as Tony narrated his every move while he assembled the bot. They sat in a companionable silence as they waited for the machine to power on and come to life. Once a small red light at the top came on, Tony turned to Steve with a large grin. “Congratulations, it’s a robot! What would you like to name the little bugger?” 

Steve considered the bot. It had a square monitor for a head, with little antenna sticking out at the top. It’s two uneven arms sat at the sides of it’s rectangular body, hovering over two wheels. Steve smiled down at his creation, thinking of the perfect name. “I think I’ll name it Sprocket.” 

“Sprocket it is,” Tony said, smiling softly. As he turned to begin playing with the bot, Steve couldn’t shake the feeling he had in his chest. He knew in that very moment that he was falling for Tony. Steve knew he was doing the exact thing his friends warned him against, and even though he knew he was likely careening towards trouble, he simply just couldn’t find it in himself to care. 

************

“Mr. Stark, do you need me to reset all of the calculators?”

Tony looked up from the papers he was grading at his desk to see Peter Parker, his student assistant, holding the small bin with graphing calculators. Peter was a junior who had taken Advanced Physics the year before, and was also a member of the robotics team. When Peter had said he needed a place to spend his free periods, Tony had agreed to let him help around his classroom. 

“It really depends on how generous you’re feeling today and if you just want to leave the equations up to give the next class a hand during their pop quiz or not.” Tony replied. 

Peter considered the calculators for a moment, before giving a smile “I guess today is 6th period’s lucky day.”

Tony had grown fond of Peter, and though he was loath to admit it, he really enjoyed getting to spend time with him. During the previous year, Tony had come to learn all about Peter’s life, struggling with bullies, losing his parents, living with his aunt and uncle, losing his uncle, and making efforts to help look after his aunt May as she got older. Peter had been through more tragedies, obstacles and setbacks than anyone should ever have to deal with, and yet somehow he still managed to exceed the expectations set for most teens living under normal circumstances. Tony saw so much of himself in this kid, and he knew that come hell or high water, he’d do whatever it took to make sure that Peter was taken care of and had every opportunity to achieve success. 

Of course, as a teacher, he had to find a way to avoid being accused of favoritism. So he took Peter under his wing, mostly within the robotics team; and if he managed to find a way to help Aunt May make the bills every month, while putting aside a scholarship for Peter’s college, well...that was his little secret. 

Peter stood towards the back of the classroom, quietly organizing worksheets for tomorrow’s classes, when there was a knock on the door. 

_Hmm_ , Tony wondered, knowing he wasn’t expecting anyone during lunch hour. “Come in,” he said, putting down his grading pen. 

Tony somehow managed to choke on nothing, as he saw Steve walk into the room. The blond gave a sheepish smile, as he walked in wearing a gray shirt and blue shorts that looked like they were practically painted on. Tony tried not to ogle the man, but it seemed like his clothes managed to accentuate every single muscle in his body as he moved, and that was just all manners of distracting. Tony snapped out of it once he saw the expectant look on Steve’s face. 

“Wait, what?” Tony asked, feeling his cheeks warm at the realization that he had completely missed whatever had been said to him. 

“I said I wasn’t sure if you’d skipped lunch because you were eating in here or if you were busy and just forgot so I brought you something to eat,” Steve said, before sheepishly presenting a plate with what looked to be a ham sandwich. “You’d mentioned yesterday how sometimes you just get so in the zone that you forget to come up for fuel, so I figured maybe that was the case today.” 

Tony accepted the sandwich, too distracted by his newly realized hunger to feel embarrassed by the loud rumble emanating from his stomach. He quickly took a bite of the food and let out a moan. “Good god, if I’d known this was all it took to get such deliciousness hand delivered to my classroom, I would have invited you to the workshop and told you all about my bad habits a lot sooner.” Tony smiled to himself at the way Steve looked away and blushed at that. 

“So, I also came by because I wanted to make sure you brought Sprocket in with you today.” Steve said, looking hopeful. 

“Of course, I’d never forget your little guy, especially on your first big day with the team!” Tony said, jumping up, sandwich in hand, as he moved to the closet at the side of the classroom to get the box of materials for the robotics team meeting. Sitting right at the top of the box was Steve’s little bot, and the blond smiled upon seeing it. 

“Hey little guy,” Steve said, reaching in the box for the bot, “Hope you’re ready to meet the team today!” 

Tony wanted so desperately to think of anything other than how unreasonably adorable it was that Steve was treating his bot like it was a puppy. He took another bite of his sandwich to avoid giving in to the urge to audibly coo at the sight in front of him. 

“I’d like to wake him up if we could,” Steve said, still looking at the bot with something like pride, “just to make sure everything still works as it should.” 

Tony polished off the last bit of his sandwich before grabbing a screwdriver from his desk and extending it in Steve’s direction. He was met with a look of confusion. 

“I figured it’d be a good time for you to actually open him up to turn the switch on.” 

“Are you sure?” Steve asked, looking cautious. 

Tony moved to stand at Steve’s side, looping his arm with the blond’s. “Listen, I know there’s more in that pretty little head of yours than just strategy and information about bodybuilding. You’re more capable of this type of engineering than you think. Plus, I can’t really let you take Sprocket home with you unless you know how to turn him off and on, so…” Tony trailed off as he lifted the screwdriver again. 

Steve gave a small nervous smile before nodding and taking the tool offered to him. Tony stood back, giving instruction but making sure to let Steve do all the work as he removed a panel and triggered the ‘on’ setting. He beamed at completing such a small task, and before Tony could think better of it, he placed his hand at the top of Steve’s shoulder, squeezing lightly as a form of praise. For a second, it seemed as though Steve had to stop himself from preening at the gesture. 

Suddenly, the sound of a throat clearing came from the back of the classroom. Both men turned towards the sound, and Tony quickly removed his hand. 

“Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to ask if you had any other copies of the gravity worksheets for tomorrow's a packets, Mr. Stark. If not, I need the keys to the copier room to make more.” Peter spoke, shyly. “Also, hi Mr. Rogers.” he said, giving a small wave. 

Steve’s face turned beet red in the moment as he gave a small wave. “Hello Peter,” he said, giving a small cough before turning to Tony. “I should probably head back to the gym. So, uh, I guess I’ll see you at the meeting this afternoon.” Steve moved to leave but stopped once he realized he was still holding Sprocket. “I’ll just uh...leave this here...with you,” he said practically running away after leaving the bot on Tony’s desk. 

“Sorry for interrupting...that,” Peter apologized.

“What ‘that’? There’s no ‘that’.” Tony rushed to correct him. 

Peter looked at Tony suspiciously, narrowing his eyes. He then turned to make sure no one was at the door before speaking again. “Mr. Stark, with all due respect, I’ve seen you try to charm Aunt May —”

“Jokingly!”

“Thank god, because she’s entirely too old for you” Peter muttered, “regardless, I’ve seen you sweet talk before and the way you were just talking to Mr. Rogers was like that, times ten. You have a crush on him, don’t you?”

Tony stammered, desperately combing his mind for any words that might help get him out of this.

Once Peter gave a knowing smile, Tony frowned. “Don’t you have some copies to go make?!” he snapped. 

“Just need the copy room keys that I asked for while you were flirting with the new gym teacher,” Peter replied, now looking unbelievably smug. 

Tony grabbed the keys from his desk and threw them at Peter in a huff. “Here are the damn keys, kid. You’re lucky I don’t find a way to fail you.”

“If only I was actually in any of your classes this year,” Peter sang as he strolled out of the classroom. 

Tony rolled his eyes and grumbled as he got back to grading the papers on his desk. Who gave that little twerp the right to be so perceptive about Tony’s feelings anyway?  
\---  
It was the end of the day, and Tony found himself making his way to the Shop class room. They had learned the previous year that holding robotics team meetings in that class room made life easier when they needed to build or make modifications on their bots. As he continued down the hall, holding his box for the meeting, Tony thought back to earlier in the day with Steve and Peter.

It killed him to admit that the teen was right on all accounts. He indeed did have a crush (as much as he fucking _hated_ that word) on Steve and he indeed was flirting with him. On one hand, Tony wondered if he should be worried that he’d been caught macking on another teacher in front of a student, but truth be told he didn’t much care. Plus with all of the ridiculous shit he had to put up with, watching students being lovey dovey during the school day, Tony figured someone could cut him some slack. 

Tony made it to the door of the classroom just in time to hear what seemed like the tail end of a conversation with Steve and Peter. “...well, I’m glad that you’ll be the assistant coach. Seems like you and Mr. Stark will make a great pair.” Peter said, innocently. Tony knew damn well what Peter was trying to do, and he’d have given the kid a piece of his mind if not for the fact that Steve’s reaction took the breath right out of his lungs. 

Steve just gave a bashful smile, turning away to hide the obvious tint in his fair skin. “Thanks Peter, I’m glad to be here. And I, uh, I think Tony and I will make a great match too.” 

_Good Christ, if this man doesn’t stop with the earnestness paired with that ridiculous blush, I won’t make it out of this meeting alive_ Tony thought. He closed his eyes and took a deep, steadying breath before walking into the classroom. 

“Crazy running into you guys here,” Tony said internally cringing at the corniness of his greeting. He didn’t have much time to dwell on it, as more team members started filing into the room. In no time, Tony was calling for everyone’s attention.

“Welcome to the first Robotics Team meeting of the 2018-2019 school year,” Tony began. “Now, I know that you all have been waiting all summer to get back to school specifically for this team, but I’ve got a new member to announce before we can get started.” Tony gestured towards Steve, and every single pair of eyes in the room turned. “This is our new assistant coach who also happens to be the new P.E teaching assistant, Mr. Rogers. He’ll be here to help with anything that you guys may need while working today.” 

“Hey everyone,” Steve started, “as Mr. Stark said, I’m Mr. Rogers. Let me know if you need anything today. Otherwise, I’m excited to get to know you all and to do what I can for the team this year.” He ended with a sincere smile, giving a barely noticeable sigh of relief once the students started welcoming him. 

The meeting went by relatively quickly, as the students started planning the bots that they wanted to build for the season. Tony observed as Steve walked around, commenting on the work that was being done, and even giving his input on what skill sets might be more useful to have at their disposal. Watching Steve interact with students in a normal setting would have been nothing, but watching him with these kids, _Tony’s_ kids...that was something special. He tried as best he could to file away the image of this first meeting before it all came to an end, but once it did, Tony found himself in the room again with just Steve and Peter. 

“That went well,” Tony spoke, packing everything up. 

“I’ll say! MJ and I have a pretty solid idea for the bot we’d like to build. I can’t wait to get started!” Peter said, excitedly. 

As Steve stood by, happily watching the two converse. An idea floated into Tony’s head. 

“Peter and I usually get burgers after Robotics team then I give him a ride home. You’re welcome to come along with us, if you’re free.”

Tony saw the way Steve’s eyes softened at the invitation. “Yeah I...I think I’d like that,” the blond replied, softly. The three of them left the classroom, heading for the parking lot. 

Tony gave Steve the address for the burger joint that had become his and Peter’s regular spot on days like this. As they made their way, with Steve following behind in his car, Tony smiled to himself, thinking that maybe Peter was right. Perhaps Tony and Steve would make a great pair.


	4. Chapter 4

Steve stood in front of the mirror adjusting his navy blue gingham button down for the hundredth time. He looked over everything: his hair, his shirt (again), his pants and his shoes. He felt ridiculous being _this_ concerned with how he looked, but it was important that he managed to look as close to perfect without looking like he tried too hard. He was on his way to Nat and Bucky’s for a little engagement celebration on the rooftop terrace at their apartment. Any other time, this would barely be cause for concern, but tonight Tony would be there and they’d agreed to go _together_.

Over the last two weeks, the pair had gotten into a bit of a groove. Between texting more regularly, having lunch in Tony’s classroom every other day, and stopping for burgers and shakes with Peter twice a week after robotics team, there wasn’t a single day where Steve didn’t spend some amount of time doing something with Tony. It was during one of those post robotics team burger runs that Peter asked what the two teachers had planned for the weekend. 

“Oh, I’m going to an engagement party on Saturday night,” Steve said, taking a sip of his strawberry shake.

“That’s so crazy, Mr. Stark, didn’t you say you were going to an engagement party on Saturday as well?” Peter asked with an inquisitive smile. 

“I mean...I didn’t say it to _you_ , but yeah, I said that,” Tony spoke around a mouth full of fries. 

“You’re going to Bucky and Nat’s party?” Steve asked, hopeful that this wasn’t some kind of coincidence. 

“Absolutely! I haven’t really gotten much of a chance to spend any time with Bucky outside of the holiday parties the teachers have, so I wouldn’t exactly pass up an opportunity to see what he’s like when he lets loose. I might get to hear his laugh for the first time ever.” 

“That’s doubtful but if you’re lucky, you might catch a full smile as opposed to that thing he does that just looks like a muscle spasm at one corner of his mouth,” Steve joked. Both men laughed at the thought when Peter interjected. 

“You guys should go together! That’s what my friends and I do when we’re all going to the same event; we just make plans to go together!” 

Steve saw the smallest flicker of a look between Tony and Peter out of the corner of his eye. A little confused, the blond just ignored it in favor of progressing the conversation. “I’m not doing anything that afternoon, if you’d like to go together.”

Tony quickly turned to look at Steve beside him, eyes slightly wide in surprise. “Really?” he asked, a mix of shock and hope on his face. 

“Well...yeah. Like Peter says,” Steve started, sparing a glance at the teen sitting across from them in the booth, “we’re going together, so we might as well. Plus it’s what the kids are doing these days.” 

Tony gave a wide smile at that before speaking softly, “Alright then, it’s a date.” 

Steve looked down at his shake with a shy smile as Tony and Peter began talking about something relating to the physics classroom. For the following two days, Steve tried not to get too in his head about it all, but with every passing conversation between him and the brunet, where they’d sort out bits and pieces of their day, Steve grew more and more nervous. Now that the day was here, he felt like he could burst with happiness and puke all at once. 

Steve did one last cursory look before taking out his phone to check the time: 1:05. He was to meet Tony at the Brooklyn Bridge Park in 25 minutes, so he needed to get going if he wanted to make it there a little early. As he walked, Steve tried to calm his nerves by reminding himself that he was just going to spend the afternoon with his friend, same as he would with any other friend. 

_But he said ‘it’s a date’_ Steve’s inner voice reminded him. He wanted to tamp down on the hope bubbling up. Everything seemed like it was going so well, but Steve couldn’t be sure. In the past, he’d always jumped headlong into his feelings for others, and it always ended up backfiring. He wanted so desperately for something, anything, to come of this new friendship with Tony, but Steve knew he needed to move slowly and with intent if this...thing had any hope of being successful. 

Before he knew it, Steve had arrived at the park. He shot off a text to Tony letting him know where he was waiting, and within a few minutes, he heard someone calling his name. 

“Steve, hey!” Tony said loudly, waving as he made his way over. “Don’t you look spiffy,” the brunet observed. 

“You’re one to talk,” Steve retorted, taking stock of Tony’s attire. He wore a brown bomber jacket atop a deep maroon shirt, dark jeans and black high tops. “You’re wearing Ferragamo sneakers,” he added.

“What do you know about Ferragamo?” Tony asked, barely hiding his astonishment. 

“Just because I can’t afford the merchandise doesn’t mean I don’t like to look,” Steve answered, feeling somewhat proud for having obviously impressed Tony. “Anyway, now that we’re here, do you have any ideas about what you’d like to do while we kill time?” 

“Oh no sir, nuh uh. I only found out about this place two days ago. You were the one who suggested we come here, so what would _you_ like to do?” 

The Brooklyn Bridge Park had always been one of Steve’s favorite places. His mom used to bring him here when he was a kid, with the carousel being a special treat when they could afford it. Steve found himself visiting the park with previous significant others but it never really felt right, so he just left it as a place to visit on his own, to people watch and draw. Steve wasn’t really sure what the goal was for bringing Tony here, but he hoped that the brunet would at least enjoy this place that meant a great deal to him. 

“Well, Empire Fulton Ferry is always a great time. We could grab something small to eat at Empire Stores or walk around the garden at the St. Ann's Warehouse,” Steve offered, hoping to gauge a reaction from the brunet that might indicate what he’d prefer. “Or we could just head over there and play it by ear.”

Tony seemed to consider Steve’s suggestions before giving a small smile. “Let’s play it by ear once we get there and see where the afternoon takes us.” 

Steve returned the smile before turning to lead the way towards Empire Fulton Ferry. The walk was short, yet they seemed to fall into a fairly deep conversation already.

“I think there’s a bar at the indoor market if you’re interested in a drink,” Steve offered casually. 

“I’d be happy to go if you’re in the mood for a drink, but being a recovering alcoholic, I try not to spend much time at bars if I don’t have to,” Tony said with a sad smile. 

Steve’s stomach dropped at the mortification he suddenly felt. He combed his mind trying to remember any conversation that would have revealed Tony’s sobriety when he had a realization. “But...the first time I met you was in a bar.”

“Correction,” Tony began, with his pointer finger up, “the first time we met, I thought you were dead in your car. But we did formally meet at a happy hour. I always attend them because I like the company.” 

“Tony, I’m so sorry--I should have known,” Steve offered, truly regretful. 

Tony waved off the apology. “It’s fine, there’s no way you’d have known without me saying as much. It’s just...things were really bad back when I drank and I really don’t ever want to get back to that place again. But I also don’t want my sobriety to be something that gets in the way of me living my life so I decided a long time ago that I’d work to be able to spend time around alcohol and drinking without feeling the need to partake. I usually just drink soda water with a lime and people are none the wiser.”  
Steve stole a glance at Tony in that moment. Though the brunet was looking down as he talked, hands in his pockets, he had a look of pride, determination and happiness on his face. It nearly broke Steve’s heart to think of what life must have been like for Tony during his battle with alcoholism, but seeing the man he was now, the man who overcame his addiction, made his heart swell with admiration. 

Before they knew it, they were standing in front of the St. Ann's Warehouse. 

“I guess since we’re here, we could take a walk through the garden,” Steve offered. 

“Sounds like a plan. After you!” 

Steve led the way through the very small garden, as they walked in a companionable silence, and once they came across a semi secluded area, they took a seat. 

“So,” Tony began, leaning back enough on the stone bench to let the sun warm his face, “I feel like since I just dumped a huge personal secret on you, it’s only fair that you tell me your whole life’s story so that we’re even. Or at the very least tell me what led you to becoming a teacher.”

Steve thought on Tony’s words, not entirely sure of where to start. 

“Well, uh, I guess I can start out saying that I’ve practically known Bucky my entire life. We grew up together, and even lived in the same apartment building. We were co-captains of the football team during his sophomore and my junior year of high school—”

“Of course you were the football captain,” Tony muttered seemingly louder than he’d intended. Steve gave him a puzzled look, to which Tony responded to with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, continue.”

“I’d planned to be captain again my senior year, but my mom got sick, so I ended up quitting the team in order to find a part time job at a local bookstore to help with stuff around the house.” Steve found himself fighting to keep his composure. It’d been a while since he’d shared this part of his life with anyone. “So, uh, towards the end of senior year, my mom passed away. I didn’t really know what to do after high school, with no means of paying for college, so I just went into the Army and Bucky followed me in a year later after he graduated as well. I spent four years trying to work up to becoming a strategist, but ended up being discharged after breaking my femur in a longboarding accident, of all things,” Steve said, giving a humorless laugh. “After being discharged, I went to college, worked at a gym, then found this TA job through Nat and here we are.” 

Steve looked up to see Tony staring at him, a look of sadness on his face. “Steve I...I’m really sorry,” Tony offered, in a hushed voice. 

“Oh, it’s okay. I mean...losing my mom was the farthest thing from okay, but she was a great woman, led a great life, and I’m just grateful I got to spend any time with her at all let alone 17 years.” 

Tony clasped his hands in his lap, and took a shaky breath. “I lost my parents pretty young too, so I know how much that sucks.” 

Steve knew bits and pieces of news stories about the death of the Starks, but from what he remembered, it seemed absolutely awful. The last thing he wanted was to sour their afternoon by talking about such sad things. 

“Well, now that we’ve gotten all of that out of the way, I’d say we’ve earned a snack. There’s a place inside the market that’s got awesome avocado toast if that’s your thing,” Steve suggested as he stood up. 

“Avocado toast? You really are a millenial aren’t you?” Tony teased as he stood. 

“Please. First of all, you’re also a millennial. Secondly, if you’ve never had avocado toast before, you’ll be eating your words very shortly.” Steve retorted. 

Sure enough, no more than ten minutes later, Tony was practically moaning as he took bite after bite of a hearty slice of avocado toast with mozzarella, tomato, basil and balsamic on it. 

“So, what was that you were saying earlier?” Steve asked with a smug smile on his face. 

“Oh god I take back _everything_ I’ve ever said about this stuff. I didn’t know, Steve. I didn’t know it could be this good!” Tony said, taking another bite and letting an almost sinful moan escape his lips. Steve felt his face warm at the reaction, and had to turn away once Tony looked up from his toast to give a small smirk. 

“So, uh…” Steve began, clearing his throat trying to refocus, “we have a little bit more time before we need to head to the party if you want to just walk around a bit more.” 

Tony polished off his meal, licking his fingers and jumped to his feet. “Sure. A walk will give me a chance to burn off that toast before we get to Bucky and Nat’s.” 

Steve rolled his eyes but smiled as they left the market. They walked towards the water and after a moment, Tony let out a gasp. Steve stopped in his tracks, turning with great concern, only to see a look of excitement on the brunet’s face. “There’s a carousel over there,” Tony spoke pointing to the glass pavilion housing the ride. “I haven’t been on one since I was a little kid...wanna go?” 

The genuine excitement exuding from Tony was enough to make Steve’s heart stop. Though Steve had made an effort to share this park with his past relationships, the carousel was something that he had never even thought to do with any of them. That was an experience that he held dear; something he’d only shared with his mother. And yet, standing there, looking at the hope on Tony’s face, he knew he couldn’t deny him this. 

“Absolutely,” Steve said softly. He was rewarded with a beaming smile. 

Once they got to the carousel, Tony made sure to step in front of the blond. “Don’t worry, I got this,” he said, taking out a five dollar bill. “No point in having all this money if you can’t throw it around a little.” 

That pulled a laugh out of Steve, as the teen at the ticket counter handed Tony his dollar in change and the two ride tickets. They walked into the pavilion, and looked at the different horses they had to choose from. “Well, all of these horses look equally terrifying so I guess we can just pick whichever one,” Tony spoke, still inspecting each animal looking for the perfect one. 

“Well, we have to at least make sure to choose horses that move, otherwise, this is just a waste of a carousel ride,” Steve said. “Here, how about these two,” he said, pointing to a tan horse with a blond mane and a light brown horse with a dark brown mane. 

Tony looked between the two horses and decided on the tan one. “I’ll go with this one, I’ve always had a thing for blonds,” he said, giving a cheeky smile as he climbed atop the saddle. Steve turned to hide his face as he mounted his horse, trying not to let Tony see how his comment affected him. 

As the last patrons got onto the ride, music started playing. It sounded like an instrumental version of Frank Sinatra’s _Fly Me To The Moon_. Once the carousel began to move, Steve chanced a look at Tony, who looked back at him with an earnest smile. As their horses glided up and down, the music seemed to give way to the sound of genuine laugher bubbling out of Tony. He didn’t want to be rude, he didn’t want to stare, but Steve couldn’t look away from the unbridled joy and excitement on the brunet’s face. Seeing the man like this was breathtaking in a way that Steve never knew possible, and he found himself praying that the ride would never end. 

As if on cue, the carousel began to slow down until it finally stopped. Steve dismounted his horse, quickly moving to take Tony’s hand while placing his free hand on the man’s lower back to help him get down. 

“Thanks,” Tony said softly. Steve just gave a nod before clearing his throat and turning to leave the pavilion. 

The walk back to the entrance of the park seemed much shorter on the way out, but as the entrance came into sight, Tony bumped his shoulder against Steve’s.   
“Thanks for suggesting we come to this park, I had a lot of fun today. I hope you did too,” Tony said, suddenly looking bashful. 

In that moment, Steve felt as if everything in life was coming together to tell him just how special Tony was. He’d tried and failed to find someone he wanted to share this space with, and yet Tony managed to bring out a feeling of happiness that only seemed to exist when Steve’s mother was around. Steve was already in deep yet falling faster for Tony and as far as he was concerned, that was perfectly fine. 

“I did. Everything today has been perfect, Tony,” Steve said with more sincerity in his voice than he’d have liked to admit. He chanced a look at the brunet, seeing the relaxed, easy sense of contentment emanating from him. Steve just took in the beauty of this man, and smiled. “Absolutely everything.” 

************  
The ride to the party mostly consisted of Steve geeking out over the custom dark green ‘67 Camaro that Tony had driven. He wanted to impress the blond and the best way he could think to do that was with a flashy car, so sue him. He’d hoped that Steve would enjoy the ride, and as the man excitedly changed subjects from cars to motorcycles, Tony tried to internally process the afternoon they’d just had. 

When Steve had initially suggested spending time at the Brooklyn Bridge Park, Tony didn’t know what to expect. He sure as shit didn’t expect his sobriety to become a topic of conversation, at least not so soon, but he appreciated that Steve took it so well. Learning the blond’s backstory was heart wrenching to say the least, and yet there was some comfort in knowing that he had someone who understood what it was like to lose a parent. Tony was happy with how the day had been going, and then the carousel happened. 

Tony had forgotten himself for a moment, in all honesty. He saw the ride and it reminded him of the times that Jarvis would let him ride the carousel whenever they found themselves in Central Park. Tony wanted to relive those moments so desperately, and to his surprise, Steve obliged. Tony found himself letting his guard down in a way he hadn’t intended, and yet, he didn’t feel embarrassed or self conscious about it, either. He just felt...comfortable and somewhat safe around Steve, at least enough to let him see a side of himself that Tony hid from everyone other than Rhodey and Pepper. Being able to open up around Steve felt good, and he didn’t know how but Tony wanted to experience that feeling again. 

“So, Bucky and Nat are your best friends?” Tony asked, taking a quick glance to look at his passenger. 

“Well, technically my best friends are Bucky and Sam, who you’ll meet tonight. But yeah, since Nat and Buck have been together for so long, she’s basically like my sister at this point.” Steve said, smiling to himself at that thought. 

“Ah, I see. That’s kind of how my friend group met as well. I mean, Rhodey and I met and through me, Rhodey and Pepper became best friends. Really, what bonded them was just trying to keep my dumb ass out of trouble,” Tony said around a laugh. 

“They sound like really great friends to have,” Steve said, warmly. 

“They are. You’ll love them once you meet them,” the words came out of his mouth before Tony had the time to actually register the implications. 

“Oh?” Steve asked, turning to give the brunet a hopeful smirk. 

Tony saw the look out of the corner of his eye but purposefully kept his eyes on the road. “Well, yeah. As the robotics assistant coach, I’m sure you’ll end up meeting them at some point,” he tried. 

“Hm, okay. Well, as your assistant coach, I look forward to getting a chance to meet them,” Steve said teasingly, turning back to face forward, still wearing that smirk. 

Tony cleared his throat before pointing to the building they were approaching. “Looks like we’re here,” he said, stating the obvious. 

“Looks like we are.”

Something about the atmosphere in the car changed over the last few minutes. Tony didn’t know what it was, but he’d be lying if he said it didn’t make him feel electrified with excitement and some kind of tension. Good tension, but tension nonetheless. “Well, there’s being fashionably late and then there’s just being an asshole, so we should probably head up to the party to avoid being the latter,” Tony said, as they parked. He reached behind the passenger seat to grab the gift bag before getting out to follow Steve. 

The elevator ride up to the roof was silent, Tony trying to focus more on the weight of the champagne bottle in the gift bag he held and less on the fact that Steve stood so close behind him that he could feel the heat radiating off of him. Once on the roof, they stepped out to see cafe lights strewn about overhead, with small clusters of people all around. This was by no means anything like most of the events Tony attended, and yet, he found himself wishing that every gala, every ball, every party he was forced to show up to had the same warmth and excitement that this small Brooklyn rooftop had. 

It didn’t take long for them to spot Natasha and Bucky standing with all of their friends. Once the couple spotted Steve and Tony, it seemed as though their entire friend group turned to gape at them, each one of them smiling. 

“So kind of you to finally show up,” Bucky teased as he pulled Steve into a hug. 

Tony moved to greet Natasha, taken aback by the hug that she pulled him into. “Glad you and Steve were able to make it,” she said, smugness dripping from her voice. 

“Brought you and Barnes this champagne,” Tony said, handing over the gift bag, hoping that he could nip whatever Natasha was going to ask about his day in the bud. 

She raised her eyebrow and smirked at him, seeing right through what Tony was doing, but took the bag anyway. “Would you guys like anything to drink?”

Steve jumped up almost out of nowhere, to answer, “I’ll go get us some drinks, no need to worry yourself with it, Nat.” Before either of them had a chance to object, Steve was gone. 

“Nice to see you again, Stark,” Bucky greeted, taking Steve’s spot and extending his metal hand to shake. 

“Good to see you, Barnes. Hope the arm’s still treating you well?” Tony asked with a hint of concern. 

Bucky just rolled his eyes and smiled. “I feel like you’re looking for an excuse to tweak it even more, but I promise you guys built one hell of a prosthetic.” 

Steve returned with two drinks in hand, giving one to Tony with a little nod. Tony examined the glass, noticing the carbonation bubbling up around the ice cubes and lime wedge. “Good?” Steve asked, quietly. 

Tony took a sip, tasting the soda water with a hint of lime. He felt his cheeks warm as he gave a small smile and nodded. Steve responded with a single nod before turning back to the group. “So, what were you guys talking about while I was away?” he asked, taking a sip of whatever brown liquid he had in his glass. 

“Just trying to convince Stark that the prosthetic his company made is perfect and that he doesn’t need to keep poking around in my arm trying to make it even better,” Bucky answered, throwing said arm around Natasha’s shoulder. 

Steve’s eyes seemed to bulge out of his head, at that statement. “Wait a second,” he began, turning towards Tony, “ _you_ made Bucky’s prosthetic? I didn’t even know Stark Industries worked in the medical industry.”

“Ah, well we don’t...yet. Not officially anyway. I just work pretty closely with a non-profit that supplies prosthetics to those who qualify and Barnes was the first person to receive the new model of arms we’re producing, so I’m always bugging him about it.” He didn’t know why, but the conversation at hand had Tony feeling somewhat self-conscious. Rather than reflect on why that might be, he chose to do what he always did: deflect.   
“So, anyway, how is everyone doing?” Tony asked, looking around at the group. He noticed a dark skinned man that he didn’t recognize. “You,” he gestured to the man, “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Tony.”

The man reached out to shake his hand. “Oh I’m _well_ aware who you are! I’m Sam Wilson. I basically keep these idiots from getting into too much trouble,” he said pointing between Steve and Bucky. 

“Ah, I have a friend just like you! Her name is Pepper and I’m certain she’d say the same thing about me,” Tony replied, instantly understanding why this man was one of Steve’s best friends. 

“So, Stark, how’s the school year going? Any cute teachers you’ve got your eye on?” Bucky asked, steering the conversation in a whole new direction. 

Steve choked on his drink, but Tony turned to give Bucky a wicked grin. “Well, she’s not new but I hear there’s a Russian teacher who’ll be on the market once she ditches her current fiance.” 

“Tony…” Bruce said in a warning tone. 

“I’m sure if Mr. Volkov was able to find someone desperate enough to marry him, he’s not going to let them go,” Natasha teased, laughing at the look of disgust on Tony’s face as he pictured the other very old, very not good looking Russian teacher. 

“He’s not my type anyway. As I said to Steve earlier today, I’ve got a thing for leggy blonds,” Tony quipped, enjoying the sound of Steve choking on his drink, again. 

“Well,” Bucky began, looking directly at his best friend, “I think we’ve got the perfect person in mind.” 

“I said leggy _blonds_ , Barnes, so unfortunately you don’t quite fit the bill. But if things ever go south with the missus and you dye your hair, give me a call. I can’t promise I’ll actually answer but you’ll never know unless you try.” 

Steve barked out a laugh and Bucky’s mouth hung wide open at his words, which put a smile on Tony’s face. “Anyway, Steve, let’s see if we can’t scare up something to eat, hm?” he said, turning to go find the food table, pulling Steve along.

As they walked away, Tony overheard Bucky speaking to Nat. “Did he just hit on _both_ of us in the span of five minutes?! I think he did! I feel like I should feel threatened but I’m just impressed.” 

“Steve’s gonna have fun with that one,” Sam added, just before Steve and Tony were out of earshot. 

As they looked over the food offerings, Steve still relishing in just how hilarious the shocked look on Bucky’s face was, Tony felt this electric buzzing feeling just under his skin. He’d been open and honest with Steve today in a way that he’d never been with anyone else, not in such a short amount of time anyway. Steve had remembered his drink of choice, and brought it to him to avoid having to explain himself to anyone else. He’d shared Tony with his best friends, and enjoyed the way they teased one another. 

This was a feeling that Tony wasn’t used to, but after a beat he realized just what it was. It had been a long time since he’d been nervous meeting people, and felt anxious for people to like him, specifically because the opinion of those people meant something to one person in particular. He’d wanted Steve’s friends to like him...because he wanted _Steve_ to like him. It was such a simple thing, to actually give a shit about what your crush’s friends thought, and yet, it had Tony practically floating. If he could win over his closest friends, maybe Tony could win Steve over too.


	5. Chapter 5

Steve was buzzing around his room, frantically trying to make sure that he’d packed everything he needed. There was a weekend long robotics meetup in New Haven, Connecticut that Tony wanted to attend. Since there was a competition planned similar to what their own robotics team would be competing in, Tony thought it’d be a good idea for Steve to come along as well. Initially, Steve was terrified of the invitation, he didn’t know what an entire weekend would look like with Tony. But his professionalism and duty to the robotics team won out, so he accepted the invitation, pushing any of his concerns to the back of his mind. He’d even started looking forward to the trip, until his asshole friends got in his head. 

“Don’t forget to take protection, Stevie,” Bucky teased, trying to keep a straight face. “STDs are real and despite what you might think, you _can_ get pregnant your first time.”

“And we wouldn’t want you to have to drop out of school to have a baby out of wedlock now would we,” Sam chimed in with a laugh. 

Steve stopped dead in his tracks and turned to his friends. “Why are either of you even here?” he asked, willing away the slight heat he felt in his cheeks at what they were implying. 

“We’re here to see you off, or to help you pack or something, I don’t know,” Bucky said, opening up a bag of chips that definitely didn’t belong to him. “Either way, we’re here and we’re reminding you to take some rubbers.” 

“For the last fucking time, we aren’t dating!” Steve spat out, beyond done with the conversation at hand. 

“Well yeah but that still doesn’t mean you guys won’t fu—”

“Out. _Now_.” Steve growled. It was a voice that his friends didn’t hear often but when they did they knew they had mere seconds to avoid Steve’s true ire. 

Sam stepped forward, hands up innocuously. “Hey, look, we didn’t mean to get on your bad side, man, just having a little fun.” 

“Yeah, Stevie, we really didn’t mean anything by it,” Bucky added with an apologetic tone. 

Steve knew that this was just how his friends were, and deep down he felt bad for snapping the way he had. When it came to Tony, Steve just didn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea, or spreading any misinformation that could come back to bite either of them in the ass. Tony was famous and the last thing he needed was the PR nightmare that came along with rumors of a workplace affair. Not to mention the fact that the school probably wouldn’t look too fondly on such rumors either. Steve just pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. 

“Look, I know you guys mean nothing by it, but it’s just...I don’t want to fuck this up by getting us in trouble for something we aren’t doing. So just...cool it on those kinds of jokes, okay?” Steve asked, now feeling a little drained from getting ready for his trip and dealing with his friends. 

As if on cue, Steve felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out to see the text from Tony.

Tony S.  
  
**Today** 6:13 PM  
Hey, I’m out front  
Alright, be down in a min  
  


He shot back a response before turning to look at his friends. “Tony’s here so uh...I have to leave which means you guys also have to leave so...let’s...leave…” Steve trailed off, realizing how ridiculous he sounded, now that his nerves were sinking in.

Sam and Bucky exchanged knowing smiles before heading towards the front door. Steve did one more quick cursory check to make sure he had everything, then picked up his overnight bag and followed his friends out. Once outside, Sam and Bucky fell back, to follow Steve to Tony’s car. They found the brunet standing on the sidewalk, leaning against the passenger side door of a black Audi, scrolling through his phone. As they approached, Tony looked up, greeting them with a blinding smile. 

“Hey you,” Tony said, smile softening as he greeted Steve. He looked around the blond to give a nod to the men behind him. “Sam, Barnes. Nice to see you guys.”

“Good to see you too, Tony,” Sam spoke. “Have fun on your trip.”

“Drive carefully. And remember, you’ve got precious cargo,” Bucky said to Tony in a motherly tone. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll return him in one piece, cross my heart,” Tony replied, marking an ‘x’ over his chest. 

“Good, cause we couldn't bear it if our little Stevie got hurt now could we?” Bucky asked, ruffling Steve’s hair. 

Steve swatted at Bucky’s hands. “I’m older than you, asshole,” he grumbled. The other men just laughed in response. “We ready to go now?” Steve asked, with a huff. Tony popped the trunk, allowing Steve to put his bag away, and said goodbye to Sam and Bucky as he moved to the driver’s seat. 

Tony sat with his hands in his lap, just looking expectantly at the blond. Steve gave a quizzical look. “I can’t start the car until you put on your seatbelt. No way I’m gunna drive off in front of those guys without you safe and secure in this car.” 

“You’re a menace, all three of you. You’re all the absolute worst,” Steve mumbled angrily, fastening his seat belt. Tony barked out a laugh as he hit the gas. 

Once they were on the road, it dawned on Steve that they’d have to find a way to fill this silence for an hour and a half. He’d never found it hard to talk to Tony, about anything really, but now it seemed like an impossible feat. 

“Have any tunes you’d like to listen to?” Tony asked, as if he could sense Steve’s minor crisis over what to do during their drive. 

“Oh, uh…” Steve began, taking out his phone and swiping through. He’d come across his ‘Arting’ playlist that he’d listen to while drawing or painting. It’d become one of his favorites, but he was somewhat self conscious about sharing this playlist in particular. Before he had a chance to select something else, Tony reached over and pointed to a song. 

“I don’t know what song this is, but play this one and go from there,” he said looking back towards the road. 

Steve gave a slow nod and pressed play. The beginning strings of a cover of _Fly Me to the Moon_ began to play. “I had been looking for the original when I accidentally added this version. I liked it and it fit well with the other songs so I just kept it.” Steve hurried to explain. They sat there silently taking in the music, and by the end, Tony just hummed seemingly to himself. 

“I really liked that version, it’s a nice cover,” Tony determined. The beginning sounds of ‘Mr. Blue Sky’ began playing, coaxing a massive grin out of Tony. “That’s an interesting shift between songs,” he said with a small laugh. 

“Yeah I uh, I listen to this when I’m drawing or painting or even sometimes writing,” Steve said, silently wishing he’d just chosen the work out playlist he has that’s full of metal music. 

“You’re an artist and a writer? Hmm, well, you’ll have to show me some of your stuff some time, I’m sure it’s great,” Tony said, nonchalantly as he tapped the steering wheel to the beat of the song. 

The fact that Tony was interested in Steve’s work was enough to stun him into silence for the following half hour as they continued their drive, listening to the rest of the playlist. Once the music stopped, Tony glanced at Steve. “So, how was your week, how’s school going?”

“Well, _dad_ , school’s going well,” Steve teased. 

Tony just rolled his eyes and laughed, “You know what I mean, jerk.” 

“School’s going well, honestly. The kids are great and they’re really enjoying the activities that Clint and I are coming up with. I mean, clearly a lot of the things that we have to make a record of, like the mile and shit like that, kids kind of hate. But otherwise they’re having fun.” 

“I always hated P.E.” Tony said offhandedly. 

“I always hated physics, so I suppose that makes us even,” Steve retorted. 

“Yeah, well I’m sure you would have loved physics if I’d been your teacher.”

“If you had been my teacher I’m sure I would have been far too distracted to actually learn anything about physics,” Steve muttered, apparently louder than he’d intended, if the laugh that Tony barked out was any indication. 

They fell into a comfortable silence after that. Steve found himself admiring the scenery while Tony fiddled with the radio until he found a rock station that seemed suitable enough. From then on, they’d both occasionally hum along to the tunes playing, just enjoying each other's company. Before they knew it, they’d made it to their hotel. Tony had promised he’d take care of booking their accommodations, and though Steve was hesitant initially, worried about what lavish rooms Tony would book, he was pleasantly surprised by how subdued their hotel turned out to be. 

They pulled up to the front, stepping out of the car to grab their bags. Tony handed his keys and a bill that’s worth Steve wasn’t able to determine, as they walked into the lobby to check in. Once at the front counter, Tony placed his hand on the chest high countertop, smiling wide once the young attendant met eyes with him. 

“Hello sir, welcome to the Omni, how can I help you this evening?” the attendant asked, sounding chipper. 

“We’re doing well, miss, just looking to check in. I have two rooms both under Tony Stark,” Tony said, pulling out his wallet to show his ID. 

“Absolutely, sir, one second please,” the girl said, typing in some information. It only took a minute for the look on her face to go from seemingly happy to confused. She continued typing, the crease in her brow deepening as she frowned. “Mr. Stark, sir, I am so very sorry. I see here that you’ve reserved two suites, but we only have one suite available.” 

“That can’t be right, I booked the rooms two weeks ago, I spoke with Brooke, the hotel manager, she assured me that everything would be taken care of,” Tony said, more confused than annoyed. 

“I...I’m so sorry, sir,” the girl, ‘Heidi’ as stated on her nametag, began typing, clearly starting to panic. 

“It’s okay, Heidi, is it? Heidi, it’s alright, we can figure this out,” Tony assured, “Could you possibly just get us a second room if there aren’t any suites available?” 

Heidi looked up, first at Steve then Tony, close to tears, “We’ve got a huge conference in town, along with a wedding. We’re fully booked…” 

“It’s okay, Heidi, we’ll take the one suite,” Steve chimed in, eager to prevent the impending panic attack that was brewing in front of him. 

“We will?” Tony asked, both he and Heidi turning to look at Steve, surprised. 

“Well, yeah it’ll be okay. There’s probably some kind of pullout couch or something. We can figure it out, no need to worry,” Steve said, smiling to reinforce the fact that he really didn’t mind. 

Tony just shrugged and continued checking in. Once they’d gotten their room keys and made it to the elevator, Tony looked at Steve, quizzically. “Are you sure you’re okay sharing a room?” he asked. 

“Absolutely,” Steve answered, honestly. “Plus, I wasn’t sure how far you were going to go to not have to share a room with me, and I wasn’t in the mood to have my feelings hurt,” Steve added, looking down but smirking up at Tony through his lashes. 

“Well, I’m glad you put us all out of our misery before I could offer to buy the hotel just to fix the booking issue,” Tony replied, softly. 

Ever since the day at the Brooklyn Bridge Park, conversations like this kept popping up. One of them would say something mildly suggestive, while the other would take the bait and they’d go back and forth until the banter naturally came to an end. It felt like they were testing the waters; trying to figure out if and where any boundaries existed. As much as Steve enjoyed this new facet of their friendship, it did nothing but stoke the fire burning within him that yearned to just reach out and kiss Tony. With every jab and every retort that came out of the brunet’s smart mouth, Steve found himself falling harder for him.

The sound of the door dinging as it opened onto the 19th floor brought Steve out of his mind and back to the elevator. He stepped out and followed Tony to their suite. Once inside, Tony threw his bags on the floor of the sitting room. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty fucking hungry so...dinner? We can order in.” 

After a few minutes of looking over the room service menu, and fifteen minutes of waiting, their food arrived. They set everything up on the table in their small kitchen, digging in without a word. Halfway through his steak, Tony pointed his fork in Steve’s direction. “So, is this the first time you’ve been whisked away by a devilishly handsome man for a weekend getaway?” Tony asked, lightheartedly. 

“Surprisingly, no,” Steve said, taking a bite of his lobster roll, trying not to acknowledge the look of surprise on the brunet’s face. 

“No to the part about being whisked away or no to the part involving a devilishly handsome man?” 

“Both actually,” Steve said, putting down his sandwich, knowing he was in for a bit of an explanation. “I’ve had past relationships where the people I dated treated me to small trips here and there. But being that I’m bi, I’ve dated women and men, so…” 

“Oh,” Tony whispered. They sat there staring at each other for a moment before Tony’s brain seemed to kick back on. “I am too...bi, that is. I am also bi.” 

“Well, this dinner took a rather unexpected turn,” Steve joked, not entirely sure how to progress the conversation. 

“It did indeed,” Tony began, turning his attention back to his steak, “but in non-bisexual news, did you hear that the staff meeting got moved to Thursday?” 

And just like that, they were back on track, talking about work and enjoying the easy conversation. After dinner, they sat in the sitting room and watched some deep sea documentary on Discovery. Before they knew it, it was time to turn in for the night. While Tony excused himself to get dressed for bed, Steve found himself removing the pillows and cushions off of the pullout couch, maneuvering it into a bed. He took a step back, examining his work, internally cringing at how uncomfortable the bed looked. 

“That bed looks like shit,” Tony said, crossing his arms as he leaned against the doorframe of the bedroom. Steve turned to raise a brow at him, frowning as if to say _Really?_. “You don't seriously think I'm going to let you sleep on this, do you?” 

“Well...yeah. Why not?” Steve asked. 

“Your feet would literally hang off the end unless you curled up in the world’s tightest fetal position” Tony observed. 

Steve took another look at the couch, deflating a bit at the realization. Tony gave a soft chuckle at that and smiled. “Just share the bed with me, Steve, it’s fine.”

He wanted to protest but his own mouth began moving faster than his brain could keep up with. “I just don’t know that the devilishly handsome man who whisked me away for the weekend won’t try to take advantage of this situation.” 

Tony barked out a laugh. “Oh, honey, there’s no way that part of the plan would come into play on the first night of the trip,” he said, rolling his eyes with a smile as he turned to walk back into the bedroom. 

Steve followed along, picking up his bag and bringing it with him. He stepped into the bathroom to change into his pyjama pants and a thin t-shirt before brushing his teeth. When he emerged, Tony sat on the right side of the bed, scrolling through his phone as he sat under the covers. Once Steve joined him, Tony moved to lay down, putting his phone on the night stand as he reached for the light switch. “Good night, Steve,” he said softly. 

Steve nestled himself under the covers, letting the warmth of the blankets wash over him as the exhaustion from the day started to set in. “Good night Tony. Thanks for everything,” Steve muttered. As his eyes began to feel heavier and heavier, the last thing Steve remembered was hearing the click of the light switch. 

************

It’d been a long day for Tony so far. He’d woken up earlier than anticipated, and found himself pressed against Steve’s back, arm flung over his chest. Tony told himself that would be his own little secret as he slowly took his arm back and put some space between the two of them. The unhappy whine that came from Steve would be another of Tony’s little secrets. 

Not long after that, Steve and Tony got ready for the day and signed in for the meet up. There was a lot of back and forth beforehand on Tony’s part, assuring the organizers that he wasn't attending for any SI business, he was just there as a physics teacher who coached the robotics team. Still, he knew there would be people who wanted to pitch ideas to him or talk business. Any other time, he'd charm his way out of such interactions, but as soon as the first potential sales pitch walked up, Steve intercepted. 

“Hi, Mr. Stark? My name is Ben Albright and I was wondering if you had a moment?” The man asked nervously. 

Steve took a step forward, smiling as he extended his hand. “Hi, Ben, I’m Steve, I’m the assistant coach with Tony at Midtown High School. This is my first ever meet up and I’m excited to see what everyone’s been working on. Did you bring any bots with you today?”

Ben looked between Steve and Tony, confused. Steve just smiled warmly with an expectant look. Ben quickly realized defeat as he turned to continue the conversation with Steve. As the morning went on, any time someone approached Tony in the same manner, Steve would step forward to steer the conversation towards the robotics team. It only took an hour for the other meetup attendees to catch on, only approaching Tony if they were legitimately interested in discussing robotics. No shop talk, no pitches, _just_ robotics. 

Once they had a moment to themselves, Tony pulled Steve aside. “I don’t know how the fuck you did any of that, but thank you!”

“Happy to help,” Steve said with an understanding smile. “It was pretty evident by the split second look of fear and annoyance, when that first guy introduced himself, that you didn’t really want to deal with that kind of stuff.” 

“Well, I might just start bringing you along with me to more events if you’re this good at repelling annoying conversations,” Tony said, noting the sudden shine in Steve’s eyes at the proposition. 

As the meetup began to pick up, Tony found that he was truly enjoying himself. Even more so, he enjoyed watching Steve light up with excitement and fascination during all of the discussions and demonstrations. It was truly something to behold, watching Steve forming a love of robotics right before his eyes. Steve was already enough trouble when he was just tall, blond and handsome. Adding an interest in coding and engineering into the mix was sure to make him _deadly_ , at least in Tony’s book. 

It wasn’t long before the game started, and that’s when Steve came into his own. While watching the bots maneuver around the makeshift field, pushing around the little ball, Tony found himself explaining less and less as he just listened to Steve dissect every movement that was made. By the time the meet up had come to an end, Steve was buzzing with excitement as he went to talk with the people who operated the bots in the game. On the way to dinner, Steve barely stopped to take a breath as he told Tony about all of the things he’d learned. He tried to keep up, asking about one bot in particular that Steve had mentioned, not really remembering what had been said that made that one stand out in particular. 

“Oh,” Steve said, finally taking a moment to stop and think over the question, “I’m sorry, Tony, I didn’t actually ask for the guy’s name. I was too excited to think about that,” Steve said, clearly a little embarrassed. 

“No worries, it’s not important,” Tony assured, “so what were you saying about the coding that the woman in purple had used?”

The rest of the evening consisted of conversations about the meet up and plans for the robotics team over sushi. Steve talked about strategy for the team’s first robotics meet, animatedly waving sushi with his chopsticks.   
_I don’t think it’s possible for this man to get any more adorable_ , Tony thought to himself as Steve laughed about something (Tony wasn’t paying 100% attention; he was hungry and yet again distracted by Steve’s adorableness). 

As if he heard Tony’s thoughts and sought to offer up a challenge, Steve took a bite of his dragon roll, getting a bit of spicy mayo on the side of his mouth. Tony felt like his heart was about to burst, he couldn’t take much more of this. He reached out a hand and gently swiped his thumb over the sauce, only realizing what he was doing after Steve’s breath hitched. 

“Tony?” Steve asked, barely above a whisper. 

“Sorry, you...you had spicy mayo on your face,” Tony explained. 

“Oh I uh...thank you,” Steve said, cheeks growing redder by the minute. 

They fell back into conversation about the team as they finished dinner and drove back to the hotel, then got ready for bed. As they slid under the covers, careful to leave enough space between them, Steve cleared his throat. 

“Hey Tony?’ Steve asked. 

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for inviting me along this weekend. I learned a lot and I had a really great time.” 

“Glad you were able to make it, I’ve had a lot of fun too,” Tony said, honestly. “And who knows, maybe I’ll whisk you away again some time.’ 

“I’d like that,” Steve answered, the smile evident in his voice. “G’night, Tony.”

“Night, Steve,” he replied, moving onto his side to turn off the light. 

Tony settled in, trying not to focus too hard on the warmth radiating from the man beside him. As he closed his eyes, beginning to drift off to sleep, a realization hit. On the way to dinner, during their conversation, Tony asked about an attendee at the meet up, but couldn’t remember why. When the reason popped into his mind, clear as day, Tony’s eyes snapped wide open. 

_Steve said that bot was controlling itself._  
\---

Tony sat on his couch, curled up with a hot mug of coffee and a Stark Pad, reading through Maria Stark Foundation proposals, when JARVIS let out a chime. 

“Miss Potts, Sir.”

“Let her in, J,” Tony spoke without looking up from what he was reading. 

“Hey, Tony, I’ve brough –” Pepper stopped, seeing the mug in Tony’s hand. “Coffee...I brought you coffee,” she finished, flatly. 

“Great! This’ll save me a trip having to refill my cup when I’m done. Thanks,” Tony said smiling brightly at the red head. She just rolled her eyes and smiled, handing over the cup. 

“So, I get swamped with business trip after business trip for weeks on end only to arrive back in town to news from Rhodey that you’re all smitten with some super buff gym teacher? And now I’m sitting here watching you going through foundation applications without being prompted. What has this man done to you!” Pepper asked around a laugh. 

“Excuse you, _Virginia_ , but I am capable of being a responsible adult all on my own,” Tony said, affronted. 

“I just don’t know that you are. I feel like I’ve had to practically twist your arm to get you to do anything SI related, and that was when you still worked here!”

“See, Pep, part of being a responsible adult is deciding when you want to work and when you want to blow off boring stuff. You’ll learn all about that when you’re older, but until then, what’s the reason for this lovely yet impromptu visit?”

“Tony, I literally explained why I was here not even a full five minutes ago,” Pepper answered, already exasperated, “I’m here to make sure you actually look through those applications but I’m also here because I want to hear all about Mr. Hot Gym Teacher.”

Tony sipped his coffee stoically, as he considered what to say. “Well, Mr. Hot Gym Teacher’s name is Steve,” he began. Pepper settled into the couch fully ready for the gossip she’d missed out on. “He’s a new TA and we’re just _friends_.”

“Oh, is that it?” Pepper asked, clearly disappointed. 

“Well...yeah,” Tony answered, returning his attention to the StarkPad in his lap. “I mean he’s the new robotics team assistant coach which is great. We actually got back this morning from a meetup in New Haven. We also went to a work friend’s engagement party together. He showed me around Brooklyn Bridge Park before the party too which was nice.” Tony looked up to see the dumbfounded look on Pepper’s face. “What?”

“You made this man your second in command after barely knowing him, went on an entire date with him, then whisked him off on a weekend getaway, and you mean to tell me that you two are just _friends_?!” She asked, incredulously. 

“Well, when you put it like that,” Tony responded, meekly. 

“How else am I supposed to put it?!”

“I don’t know, Pepper! All I can tell you is that I really like being around him. He’s smart, he’s funny, and I literally have to use all of my willpower to stop myself from kissing him every time he’s within arm’s reach.” Tony said, slightly horrified. “I’m a grown ass man, one who could quite literally have anyone he wanted. I don’t know why I’m all of a sudden acting like a 15 year old in some kind of shitty rom-com.” 

Pepper looked at Tony with a soft smile, and he physically cringed. She thought this was endearing, he could practically feel the sympathy radiating off of her, which somehow made it all worse. 

“Oh Tony,” Pepper said, as she placed her hand atop his. “Why don’t you tell me how the meetup went.” 

Tony gave a small sigh, grateful for the slight change in subject. “The meetup was great, actually. It’s a lot of fun getting to see someone’s burgeoning love of robotics. Although…” Tony stopped puzzling over whether to even bring up his concern. When he saw the uneasy look on Pepper’s face, he continued. “Well, it was just something Steve said about someone else at the meetup. Something about them having a bot that wasn’t being controlled by anyone, but I’m sure he must have misheard what was said.”

“Why’s that?” Pepper asked. 

“I just...I don’t really know how to explain it,” Tony said, frustrated that he couldn’t find a way to verbalize his worries. 

“Well, I can have someone at SI look into it if you need,” Pepper offered, pulling out her phone to send out the assignment. 

“No, it’s fine, really,” Tony declined. “Enough about me and my weekend. How’ve your trips been? Anything happening with the company that I should be aware of?”

With that, Pepper launched into a complete rundown of all the Stark Industries work and travel she’d been up to. Tony tried his best to give his full attention to the conversation at hand, but he couldn’t shake his concerns. The way those bots at the meetup operated seemed innocuous, but if one of them was self learning and operating on its own, it’d be a much bigger problem for Tony and Stark Industries than anyone realized.


	6. Chapter 6

Steve sat in the teacher’s lounge, relaxing as much as he could in the old arm chair by the window. He munched on a few carrot sticks as he looked down at the notebook on his lap.   
For days now, Steve had been feeling an itch to create something. When he’d taken out his drawing supplies, he ended up just staring at the blank paper for an hour before realizing he needed a different creative outlet. So he picked up his writing notebook and got to work. 

It had taken a few days to come together, but as he wrote a few more words, Steve smiled, realizing his work was finished.

_They say that every day the universe expands,  
and we discover certain things that we don’t understand.   
Dark matter ain’t the only mystery at hand.   
I’m wonderin’ how I got a guy like you to say that I’m his man_

_It’s a statistical anomaly, but boy you’ve got me.  
Gravity is pulling me to your heavenly body.   
No astronomical phenomenon could ever stop me.   
You've got a smile that every star in the galaxy copied. _

_The constellations couldn’t make as beautiful a pattern.  
The conversations– every night I ring you up like Saturn.   
The telescopes tell us folks that you’re the coolest view.   
A supernova’s scooting over to make room for you. _

_‘Cause you eclipse every wonder of the cosmos.  
It’s almost unfair to them, but you’re the one I want most.   
It’s a miracle that Galileo never found you.   
If he did, he’d say the universe revolves around you._

As he read it over, Steve thought on the words he’d written. Since their trip to Connecticut, he and Tony had gone to two meets with their robotics team, working even better together under pressure than Steve ever expected. Despite all the nerves that he felt, Steve seemed to silently fall into a rhythm with Tony that felt so effortless it was astounding. Where one of them fell short the other excelled and together they ended up leading their team to win both meets. 

It was at that second meet, after their second win when Tony turned and smiled at Steve that the blond felt absolutely weak in the knees.That moment sparked this need, for Steve, to find a way to capture that feeling through some creative outlet. With _Fly Me to the Moon_ (a song that exclusively reminded Steve of Tony) on a perpetual loop in his head, Steve had managed to use the song to help him get his feelings out on paper. 

“What’ve we got here?” Steve heard from over his shoulder, and nearly jumped 10 feet out of his chair as he turned to see Natasha, smiling. “Jesus fucking Christ, Nat, you scared the shit out of me.” He said, clutching his chest, falling back into his seat. Steve took a quick look around, unable to find his notebook until he glanced up to see it in Nat’s hands. All of the color drained from his face as she read his words. He desperately wanted to ask for the notebook back, but he couldn’t seem to make his mouth work as her eyes danced over the words on the page.

“Steve, this is beautiful,” Natasha whispered, finally looking up at him. 

“I, uhm…” Steve began, just as Bruce walked into the room. 

“What’s going on?” The brunet asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. 

“Not much, just reading this thing Steve wrote about Tony,” Natasha said, handing over the notebook as Bruce extended his hands in a _gimme_ motion. 

Steve wanted to feel mortified watching Nat pull out her phone to take pictures of his work as she looked over Bruce’s shoulder. But if he was being honest, it was nice sharing this kind of stuff with his friends, even if they did give him shit about it from time to time. 

“You should really share this with him, Steve,” Bruce suggested, sincerely. “This is the sweetest thing I’ve read in a long time, and I’m sure it’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever had to say about Tony—”

“Who’s saying something about Tony?” Clint asked, as he entered the teacher’s lounge. 

“Oh nothing, just reading this poem that Steve wrote about Tony,” Bruce answered with a small smile as he handed over the notebook. 

Steve tried to act unbothered by the amount of people passing around his notebook, silently praying that no one flipped through the pages, lest they find the very not safe for work sketches of his favorite physics teacher. 

“This is tooth rottingly sweet, Steve. I don’t know if I’m about to shed a tear because it’s so adorable or puke from the stomach ache this much sugary sweetness would inevitably cause,” Clint said, seemingly about to flip a page, but thinking better of it and closing the notebook altogether. “Either way, you should probably tell him how you feel and stop being such a fraidy cat.”

“Hey guys, what are we talking about?” Tony asked, coming into the room. Steve mentally face palmed, wondering if any other stragglers would join the conversation or if this was it. 

“Not much, just poking fun at Steve,” Clint said, holding up the blond’s notebook. 

Tony’s eyes landed on the navy blue book and frowned as he reached out for it. “Poking fun at Steve… _this_ Steve?” He asked pointing to the blond before he plucked the notebook out of Clint’s hands. “Oh no, that’s what we won’t be doing today. Unless you want me to figure out how to dock your pay by cutting it in half.” Tony threatened with no venom behind it. 

Clint scoffed. “Puh-lease. You have no control over how much we get paid, you can’t do shit.” 

“Bold of you to assume I wouldn’t find a way to become superintendent of this entire district just to have the ability to dock your pay,” Tony said, taking a seat on the arm of Steve’s chair. 

Clint narrowed his eyes then let out a huff in defeat. “Fine, whatever, I’m sorry. Jesus fuck, you guys are the worst,” he muttered as he headed towards the fridge. 

Tony turned to face Steve and gave a small smile. “I don’t know what any of that was about, but here, figured you’d want this back.” he said, handing over the notebook. 

“Thanks,” Steve offered, trying to keep his heart from beating out of his chest as their fingers brushed.

“No need to thank me,” Tony said, waving off Steve’s words as he stood to make himself a cup of coffee. “I'm always up for a detour to save my favorite damsel in distress on my way to get lunch,” he said, holding up his mug to emphasize that that was ‘lunch’. 

Steve looked at the brunet, disapproval written on his face. “Tony, coffee isn't food, we’ve been through this before.” 

“And yet, I feel like coffee is a lot more useful.” 

Steve rolled his eyes and gave an exasperated smile. “Give me a few minutes, and I'll meet you in your classroom with real food for you.” 

“You don't have to give me your lunch, Steve.” Tony said. 

Steve shook his head. “It's not _my_ lunch. I always bring a little extra since I know you’ve got an aversion to actually taking care of yourself.” 

Tony looked at Steve with so much fondness, it actually left the blond momentarily breathless. 

“Alright then, I’ll see you in a bit,” Tony said softly, smiling to himself as he walked out of the teacher’s lounge. 

Steve stood from his chair to see Bruce, Clint and Natasha staring at him. “What?” He asked, moving to grab his extra lunch from the fridge. 

“You...you bring an entire lunch with you for Tony every day _just in case_ ,” Bruce said, astounded. 

“Yeah, and?” Steve asked, trying to play it cool. 

“It is so painfully obvious that you’ve got it bad for Tony,” Clint said, mirroring the look on Bruce's face. “You’ve gotta do something about this before the rest of us are forced to intervene.”

“We’ve got two more meets before our final meet for the season. I’ll ask him on a date then, okay?” Steve stated. He watched as his friends exchanged glances, finally agreeing that they were pleased with his plan. 

Steve said his goodbyes before heading towards Tony’s classroom clutching his notebook and the rest of his food. As exhausting as it could be dealing with his friends, Steve found himself feeling like a huge weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. He’d been considering asking Tony out on a date but wanted a sign from anyone that it wasn't a horrible mistake. If three of his closest friends thought it was a good idea then that had to count for something. 

As Steve rounded the corner to Tony’s classroom, he heard the last few notes of the cover of _Fly Me to the Moon_ that he’d played on their way to New Haven. Right as the song ended, Steve made his way into the room and was greeted by Tony’s bright smile. At this point Steve realized, asking Tony on a date wouldn't be so hard, but having to wait to ask Tony just might kill him.   
\---  
It was the afternoon of their next meet, and Steve was somewhat on edge. Tony had mentioned over shakes and burgers that his best friend Rhodey would be attending this meet. Peter was particularly excited to get a formal introduction to Tony’s best friend. Steve on the other hand was secure enough in himself to admit that he was thoroughly intimidated by the man. He wanted to think that it was just the idea of being such an accomplished Marine but the reality was he wanted Rhodey’s approval. Without it, Steve knew his odds with Tony would be slim to none. 

Steve sat on the school bus with the rest of the team, heart racing as they got closer to their destination. 

“You alright, Mr. Rogers?” Peter asked, popping up from the seat behind Steve. 

“Yeah, I’m just thinking,” Steve answered, trying to give as little detail as possible. 

“I really want Mr. Rhodes to like me too,” Peter said, folding his hands on the seat in front of him and resting his chin atop them. 

“I...who said that’s what I'm thinking about?” Steve asked, absolutely fooling no one. 

“I mean, you just did with that weak deflecting technique,” Peter quipped. “Mr. Stark is my favorite teacher, with you as a very close second, obviously. But since I care what he thinks I also care what his best friend thinks, so I’m nervous about Mr. Rhodes liking me.” 

“Peter, you’re a wonderful kid, and great save by the way,” Steve laughed. “All you have to do is be yourself, and I'm sure Mr. Rhodes will think you’re just as awesome as Mr. Stark does.” 

“Well, if we both follow that advice I think we’ll be just fine,” Peter said with a smug grin as he slid back into his seat. 

Steve turned to face forward, stunned that Peter had practically Jedi mind tricked him into figuring out his own issues. As they pulled up to the school, Steve spotted the cherry red sports car that Tony and Rhodey had arrived in. He took a moment, head reeling at how amazing Tony looked getting out of his car. It really wasn't fair for a man to look _that_ breathtakingly gorgeous. Yet here Tony was, all maroon t-shirt and navy cardigan with the sleeves pushed up; hair perfectly tousled and glasses that did nothing but somehow make his bright blues eyes even brighter. Steve wanted to scream, but he settled for rallying the team and getting them off the bus. 

Steve gave a small wave as he walked towards Tony. “Glad to see you made it on time,” he teased. 

“Just because I left twenty minutes after you guys doesn't mean I was going to be late. It’s amazing how quickly you can get places when you treat the speed limit as merely a suggestion!” Tony said, smiling devilishly. 

Steve couldn't help the smile he cracked as he shook his head at how ridiculous the brunet was. As if remembering that it wasn’t just the two of them on the sidewalk, Tony turned to look at his friend. “Oh, this is Lt. James Rhodes, but you can just call him Rhodey. He’s the peanut to my butter, the apple to my sauce, the mac to my cheese—”

“Please stop before you have people out here thinking we’re getting married,” Rhodey said, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. 

“And what, pray tell, would be so terrible about being married to me?” Tony asked, crossing his arms. 

“Aside from the fact that we literally don’t have enough time for me to even begin to get into it, I also don’t want to put you on blast in front of your new friend. The short answer, though, is that you are absolutely exhausting.”

Tony gasped. “Excuse you, I am a _delight_.” 

“In very small doses, yes,” Rhodey agreed before turning his attention to Steve. “Nice to meet you…” he paused, waiting for Steve’s official ranking, as he extended his hand for a shake. 

“Corporal Steve Rogers,” he said, taking Rhodey’s hand to shake it. “Pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant.”

“Pleasure’s mine, Corporal. Where were you stationed during your time in the Army?” 

“Oh no you don’t,” Tony cut in, “the two of you are not going to make me take a back seat to all your military talk. You have five minutes to get all of that out of your system while I round up the team. If I hear any military jargon when I get back, I swear to God I will only speak to you two in Python for the rest of the month.” 

“Is that really a threat? What’s Python?” Steve asked around a laugh. 

“It’s a programming language. He’s done it before and it’s fucking awful,” Rhodey answered, the trauma from that incident written all over his face. 

Tony gave a self satisfied smile before walking over to the group of kids. Once he was out of earshot, Rhodey turned on Steve, narrowing his eyes. 

“What are your intentions with my best friend,” Rhodey asked, point blank. 

Steve nearly choked on air as he sputtered to try to find an answer. “I..I-uh…”

“Listen, we’ve only got a short amount of time and Tony was _not_ kidding about speaking to us in Python so we need to get straight to the point, and fast,” Rhodey said, clearly trying to convey just how dire the situation was. 

Steve sighed, rubbing his hand at the back of his neck. “I was planning on asking him on a date after our final meet.”

“On a date where?”

“I don’t know! Maybe to the movies or on a picnic. I’m not really sure what kind of date you go on with someone like him,” Steve answered sincerely. 

“And what about all the money and fame that comes along with him? Are you just chasing after that?”

Steve looked shocked for a moment but closed his eyes and took a deep breath to center himself. “Can I be completely honest?” He asked

“All we have time for is complete honesty, Corporal,” Rhodey answered.

“To me, Tony Stark: rich, famous tech genius and Tony Stark: charming, sweet, brilliant physics teacher and robotics team coach are two completely different people. Despite all the designer clothes and the nice sports cars, I regularly forget that he’s _the_ Tony Stark. Half the time it just feels like they’re two separate people with the same name. So no, I'm not chasing after any of that stuff, I'm honestly just interested in Tony.” 

Rhodey looked at him, clearly surprised by that answer. His face softened a bit the moment he realized that Steve wasn't putting on a front, and he let out a relieved breath. “That’s good to hear,” he began. “But all of that... _stuff_ does still come as part of the package. You okay with that?” 

“Yeah,” Steve answered in a hushed voice, “As long as Tony is part of the package, I'm more than okay with anything else that’s included.” 

“Alright,” Rhodey said after a moment, nodding his head. “You seem like a good enough guy, just make sure to treat him well or I'll have to come after you. That's a lot of work for me that I'd rather not do so don't make me have to.” 

Steve gave a nervous laugh, but eased his shoulders once he saw the half smile on Rhodey’s face. 

“Oh, also, has he told you about…” Rhodey asked, tapping at his sternum. 

Steve’s brow creased in confusion as he shook his head. 

“You haven't noticed it yet?” 

Again, Steve shook his head, trying hard to remember if he’d ever gotten a good look at Tony’s chest. “Is it something to do with the heart surgery he had while he was held captive?” 

Rhodey was clearly stunned, but sighed as he ran his hand over his face. “Wow, okay well you can look it up if you'd like but I'd really suggest getting the story straight from Tony when he’s ready to share it—I definitely preferred flying the AV-8B Harrier II over the other combat aircrafts,” Rhodey finished, quickly nodding over Steve’s shoulder. 

Steve turned around and startled when he found Tony standing there. “Alright, your five minutes is up,” the brunet said, walking over to throw his arm around Rhodey’s shoulder. 

“But I was just getting into which aircrafts I enjoyed flying,” Rhodey whined. 

Tony just rolled his eyes. “Well maybe you can finish telling him one day, but for now you have to come with me so I can introduce you to the coolest students Midtown High has to offer.” As he dragged Rhodey away, Tony met Steve’s eyes and gave a small smile. 

Steve tried not to stare, but as he looked at Tony’s chest, he noticed a raised circular object in the center. Had that always been there, he wondered as he thought over every interaction the two had had. Sure enough, as if someone was casting a spotlight on it in his mind, Steve suddenly realized the circular object with a faint blue light that had always been resting under his shirt. If he tried hard enough, he could remember during that first visit to the workshop, seeing a hint of something metallic peeking over the neck of his shirt.

It was startling for Steve to realize that he had completely missed something so clearly out of place. The more he thought about it, though, the more he realized that aside from wanting to know if Tony was okay health wise, Steve didn't actually _care_ what that thing was. It seemed to be an important part of Tony’s life so that's all that mattered. This thing in Tony’s chest was as big a deal to Steve as Bucky’s metal arm; that is to say, Steve never gave much attention to either because it just seemed those things weren't defining factors to him. If Tony ever wanted to open up about the object in his chest, Steve would be ready to listen, but until then, he had no intention of looking any further into it. 

Walking over to the rest of the team, Steve noticed that Tony was standing with Peter and Rhodey, laughing. The way his nose scrunched up and his eyes crinkled at the edges as he held his stomach, barely able to control his laughter, took Steve’s breath away. He looked on, feeling something new and beautiful and terrifying bloom within his chest as his inner voice confirmed what Steve had suspected for some time now.

_I love this man._

************

Tony sat in the driver's seat, clutching the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white. He and Rhodey had been driving back to Midtown High for all of 15 minutes, and Tony couldn't help the antsiness he felt, waiting to get all of the thoughts he had out in the open. 

“Well…” Rhodey prompted, “are you going to spit it out or what?”

“I just can't believe how well you and Steve got along, I mean I can since I'm a man of discerning taste and I wouldn't befriend or try to date just anyone. But also did you see how much of a smoke show that man is?! He almost exclusively wears shirts that aren't even sort of in the realm of an acceptable size. But how does one even attempt to produce a garment capable of containing those muscles? And you saw how wonderfully he did as the assistant coach; helping the kids sort out the best course of action during each round. He’s great with the team and Peter thinks the world of him and I’m just happy that my favorite people all get along,” Tony blurted out in one breath. 

“Is that it?” Rhodey asked,clearly amused. 

“I mean there’s another topic but this one is more fun so we can stick with this for now,” Tony answered. 

“Well, I was wary initially, but you've managed to find a good one.” 

“While I agree with you, I'd appreciate it if you could elaborate on _why_ you think Steve’s a good one. Just so I can make sure we're on the same page.”

After a few minutes of silence, Tony turned to see the exasperated look on Rhodey’s face. He just looked at his friend expectantly, earning himself an eye roll. 

“For future reference, _this_ is what I meant when I said you were exhausting,” Rhodey quipped. “Anyway, Steve seems like a well rounded guy with his head on straight. More than that, though, he seems interested in who you are, not what you have. Also, I’m not sure if you’ve realized this but I’m fairly certain today was the first day he’s really noticed the arc reactor...and I think that was only because I drew attention to it.”

“Wait, what?” Tony croaked, suddenly feeling extremely self conscious. 

“I asked him if he knew anything about it and he looked at me like I had three heads,” Rhodey said, clearly still astounded. “But it didn’t seem as though he was ridiculously unobservant, I think he’s just that into you that he doesn’t even care. It’s a part of you; any other information past that doesn’t seem to matter. It’s nice, honestly.” 

Tony sat there quiet, praying that Rhodey couldn’t see the red creeping into his cheeks. The arc reactor was something he didn't like to talk about or even draw attention to, and yet people always ended up asking about it. Thankfully his students knew better than to ask about it yet somehow adults were hit or miss between those who could leave well enough alone and those who just wanted to be nosey as fuck. No matter which category they fell into, people at least always noticed the reactor. Tony had nearly perfected his ability to catch people taking a glance at his chest, trying to sneak a peek. He hated it more than he’d ever let on. 

With Steve, though, not once had he ever caught him chance a glance at the mechanism keeping Tony alive. He'd waited a long while for that shoe to drop and when it never did, somehow it felt like Tony was able to finally breathe. It was a strange feeling to have, knowing that Steve saw Tony as a whole and not just the various parts that comprised Tony Stark. He’d never felt so seen before in his life and the fact that it was apparent to someone outside of himself was slightly overwhelming. 

Thankfully their drive was coming to an end as Tony pulled into the Midtown High parking lot to drop Rhodey off at his car. Once he parked beside the sleek black sedan, Tony turned to face his friend. “Thanks again for coming out tonight,” he said, trying to conceal any of the feelings the previous conversation had stirred up. 

“Any time, Tones,” Rhodey replied, moving to get out of the car. “Oh, what was the other thing you wanted to talk about?” 

Tony’s smile faltered for a moment but he regained his composure quickly enough that the slip up went unnoticed. “Oh I forgot but it was nothing important anyway.” 

Rhodey just shrugged. “Alright well then I'm gonna head home. I’ll see you later. Let me know when you get home,” he shouted getting into his car. 

Tony waited for Rhodey to pull out of his spot before he drove away. Clutching the steering wheel once again hard enough to turn his knuckles white, Tony thought back on the meet that evening.

He and Steve stood on the sidelines during a break talking over how they might want to play the next round. At one point, Steve had been drawing on a small white board and as he reached to hand Tony a marker, he dropped both the one he’d been offering and the one he'd been using. In a moment that now played in slow motion in Tony’s mind, a bot rolled by picking up the markers and handing them back, one to Steve and one to Tony. The second Tony realized that there was no one nearby to control the bot and that it handed Steve the marker he had been using initially, Tony knew that someone had managed to build a bot with a general intelligence A.I. Something that could learn and operate on it’s own, without any outside input. He would have been ecstatic for this new tech if not for the terrifying questions he couldn't stop asking. 

_Who discovered why would they hide it like this?_

The possible answers may have scared the shit out of Tony, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to dig them up anyway.   
\---  
The past three weeks had been a whirlwind. Tony stood in an auditorium in Albany, looking at all of the other robotics teams as he thought back on all that had happened over the last few weeks. 

After finding out about the AI being used, Tony started doing some digging. It wasn’t as easy as he’d have liked to get his hands on video footage of their meets without raising any alarms that something was wrong. Once they’d made it to the second to last meet and ended up doing well enough to place as one of four teams competing at finals, though, Tony was able to mask his request for the footage. As soon as he said they needed it to study and assess their previous meets to strategize for finals, the robotics league was more than happy to turn over what they had. By the time finals had arrived, Tony had been able to parse through enough footage to realize that the DeWitt Clinton High School team had been using general intelligence, but had only implemented it in a single bot. Moreover, they would only ever use that bot sparingly; never as a primary player on the field, just kind of...there almost as if for show only. None of it made sense, but luckily Tony was able to get a closer look because the DeWitt team had made it to finals as well. 

As he stood watching the heat with DeWitt and another school, he leaned over towards Steve to point out the bot in question. 

“I don’t understand,” Steve said, “if that bot is as complex as you’ve told me, if it’s capable of doing all that you explained, why are they letting it practically sit back and relax instead of using it to win?”

“I don’t really know,” Tony answered truthfully, clearly irked by that fact. “From the interaction that we had with that bot during the last meet, it’s clear that it’s a very intricate AI, but it feels like it’s just here for someone to notice the programming more than for it to be used to cheat.” 

“But what's the benefit in that?” Steve asked. Tony shrugged, just as confused as the blond. 

The robotics league had very strict rules about what qualified as acceptable for teams to use. Very basic machine learning was allowed, as long as it still required some input from the students controlling the bots. Running something like this, where the bot was basically fully autonomous was against the rules.

The most troubling part of all of this, though, was that Tony was only aware of one AI with this kind of capability, and that was JARVIS. There were tons of people in the world of AI looking to perfect general intelligence with capabilities like what Tony had done with JARVIS. But for this kind of tech to just pop up on a high school robotics team without a peep from the robotics community, it wasn’t just odd it was impossible. 

Tony continued to watch as the DeWitt team won their heat, securing a spot as one of the two final teams. Tony willed himself to push his concerns to the back of his mind as his team set up for their heat. While he was coaching, Tony always got into a zone where all he focused on was the game. It usually felt somewhat relaxing, to know that he could just tune everything else out and put all of his energy into this. But now, he felt this strange thing itching at some part of his brain, clawing and fighting for his attention. Tony didn’t want to ask the question, he didn’t want to acknowledge this fear that he had, because the implications would be horrendous.

The second their match was over, and Midtown High was deemed to be the opposing team for DeWitt in the final, Steve turned to smile wide at Tony. It was then, when Tony slipped up and let his mind have a second’s rest, that question finally snuck out. 

_What if someone’s stolen my tech?_

Everything seemed to happen in the blink of an eye. As the match progressed, Tony stood by feeling like he was bracing for everything to come crashing down. Within what felt like the span of seconds, he watched as Midtown lost the game, then he felt a text message come through.

Unknown Number  
  
**Today** 5:37 PM  
Sorry about coming in second place, but thanks for leaving the AI code where I could easily find it. Talk soon xoxo Ty  


Tony felt an immense sense of panic wash over him. The text had come from Tiberius Stone. That man was many things: he was enigmatic, handsome, and a successful businessman. He was also a massive asshole, and Tony’s borderline abusive ex. Tony hadn’t seen Tiberius in close to 13 years, but the thought of seeing him now, when he’d allegedly stolen Stark tech, sent chills up Tony’s spine.

How had this happened? Tony literally had the most secure systems in the world, and yet somehow Tiberius had managed to weasel his way in. Tony needed to get out of there, to find a place where he could just sit and think in peace. If he could just get Steve, Tony thought, maybe they could leave together and figure it all out. Tony shook himself out of the haze of panic he’d fallen into, just in time to see Steve talking to the DeWitt team coach. He narrowed his eyes as he saw the pair shaking hands and exchanging a laugh. In that moment, Tony’s heart sank. 

He stayed silent the entire ride back to the school, easily able to mask his silence as disappointment in the outcome of the match. Once off the bus, Tony had hoped for a chance to slip away, to get Peter home then go back to his workshop without any trouble, but he had no such luck. Steve caught him by the wrist and pulled him away from where the students were waiting for their parents. 

“Hey, so I had really hoped for a better outcome today,” Steve started, nervously, “but I think despite coming in second, we had a great season. Getting to know you has been great too and I was wondering if maybe you’d want to go on a date sometime soon.” 

Tony looked at Steve, standing there expectant and hopeful. It made Tony’s blood boil. 

“I know,” Tony whispered.

“You know? What do you know?” Steve asked, clearly confused. 

“I know that Tiberius Stone stole my tech,” Tony seethed. “I know that _someone_ had to give him help from the inside. Judging by the way you were buddying up with the DeWitt coach, that someone was probably you. What I _don't_ know is how much Ty had to pay you for this.” 

“I...what?” Steve asked, now looking shocked. “I don't know who Tiberius Stone is and I certainly haven't been paid to give anyone any information about you. Tony, what's going on?” 

Tony was past the point of playing this game, especially with Steve. “Cut the bullshit,” he growled. “You show up out of nowhere, Mr. tall, blond and handsome, and practically charm your way into every part of my life. You become my assistant coach and all of a sudden this super advanced bot shows up. We lose to said super advanced bot and I get a text from Ty that he stole my tech. You're a common factor here, Steve. It doesn't take a genius to figure this out.” 

Steve narrowed his eyes at Tony, now looking offended by the accusation. “I don't know what the hell you’re talking about, but why would I come back here and ask you on a date if I was part of this elaborate scheme to steal your tech?” 

“Fuck if I know! Seems like trying to get in my pants was the easiest way to get the info you all needed. Tell me, how much did he have to pay you just to get me to fall halfway in love with you before pulling the rug out from under my feet?” Tony asked with a sneer.

“Tony do you hear yourself? This is ridiculous!” Steve said, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

Tony had had enough. He took a step closer, now getting in Steve’s face. “What's ridiculous is that you thought I would ever date someone like you,” he spat out. 

Steve’s jaw set and his nostrils flared. For a brief moment, Tony wondered if the blond was going to hit him. He braced for a blow but it never came. Steve just looked at him for another moment, anger radiating off of him. 

“Fuck you, Stark,” was all Steve said before turning to leave. 

Tony stood there, somehow more shocked by that response than if he had been hit. Peter cautiously approached, sensing something was wrong. 

“Mr. Stark?” The boy asked, but Tony waved him off. 

“Hey kid, why don't you take my keys and warm up the car, I've gotta get something I left in my classroom. I’ll be right back,” Tony assured, handing over the remote for the car. 

He didn't stick around long enough to see the wary look on Peter's face. As Tony walked back into the school, he held his head high, waiting for the moment his classroom door closed behind him. It was then that he let out a pained sob. 

Everything had been or was going to be ruined. His company, his team, his relationship with Steve...everything. Tony gave himself a few minutes to wallow in the sorrow of this entire mess, but the second he stepped back out into the hallway he rolled his shoulders back, stood up straight and walked out of that school as a man on a mission. 

No matter what it took, Tony was going to make sure that Tiberius Stone answered for what he’d done.


	7. Chapter 7

Steve woke up feeling like absolute shit. After the match the night before he drove home in a haze, not giving any of the evening a chance to sink in until he reached his apartment. There, he sat on his couch, head in his hands and weeped. 

It had taken the span of three months for Steve to fall in love with Tony and yet it all fell apart in less than five minutes. He had no clue about any of the things Tony had accused him of. It hurt to think that the brunet could so easily jump to the conclusion that Steve was some kind of mole, hired to dig up dirt on him. But what really stung was that Tony could ever think that Steve would accept money to pretend to be in love with him. He couldn't even focus on the fact that Tony admitted he was falling too; none of that mattered now. Tony was clearly done with him, and to Steve that was just as well. If Tony didn't trust him, trust the bond they’d come to build between them, then Steve didn't want anything to do with him. 

It was hours on the couch before Steve finally fell asleep, but when he did, it was fitful and uncomfortable. He woke up with a crick in his neck and an ache in his shoulder. He dragged himself off the couch, grabbing his phone in the process, to send a text.

Tasha  
  
**Today** 8:27 AM  
Everything with Tony is ruined.  
  


Steve took a deep breath before putting down the phone and going to take a shower. He turned the water on as hot as he could take and just stood there, letting the heat melt away the tension and soreness in his muscles. Here, it felt like he was able to let everything go; try to find a way to wash away all the sadness and anger from the past day. Steve didn’t know how long he’d stood under the spray of water, but when he came out and checked his phone, he noticed several missed calls and texts. He didn’t bother checking any of them, too drained to deal with any of his friends. He went to his room to get dressed, choosing an old t-shirt and workout shorts to wear. As he left his room, rounding the corner to the kitchen to get a bowl of cereal, Steve was startled by Bucky and Natasha.

“Jesus fucking _Christ_!” Steve screamed, clutching his chest. “What the hell are you guys doing here?”

“You weren’t answering any of Nat’s calls or texts. We weren’t sure if you were okay,” Bucky said, using his flesh and blood hand to scratch above the elbow of his metal arm. 

Steve recognized the movement as a tell the brunet had developed well before losing his arm. It meant Bucky was worried, and what’s more, he was worried about _Steve_. In all their years as friends, Steve tried his best to look out for Bucky and protect him as well as he could. The few times that the roles were reversed and Bucky had been the one trying to hold it together for the both of them had been some of the toughest times in Steve’s life. He didn't want this...thing with Tony to be added to that list.

“I'm fine guys,” Steve spoke, trying to sound a lot less deveststed than he felt. “Some shit went down last night with Tony, but I'm fine and he’s fine, at least he was when I left the school. Everything is okay, I'm sorry I worried you.” 

Bucky seemed to visibly relax, if only a little, at Steve’s words. Natasha, however, fixed him with a suspicious look. 

“What was that text about, then? What happened to ruin everything?” Natasha asked. 

Steve gave a deep sigh before ushering his friends towards the living room. Once there, he went over everything with the advanced AI, losing to DeWitt, and finally, Tony blowing up at him. 

“I just don’t understand, who’s Tiberius and why does Tony think he’s paying you?” Bucky asked, confused. 

“Honestly, I have no fucking clue. Tony just went nuts, started yelling about this Tiberius guy and accusing me of being paid to try to get in his pants.” 

The three of them sat there quietly for a moment, trying to make sense of it all, before Nat moved to place a hand on Steve’s arm. 

“I’m so sorry this happened, Steve. If you’d like, I can see what I can dig up on this Tiberius guy.”

Steve didn’t know a whole lot about Natasha’s life before she started dating Bucky, but he did know that she had a lot of useful connections, especially in a case like this. Steve rummaged through his wallet to pull out a small scrap of paper for her. 

“This is the little bit that I was able to get out of the DeWitt robotics coach last night after the match. I didn’t want to sound like I was digging for specific information, so I just asked a lot of general stuff, but I figured your friends might be able to work with this.”

Natasha took the scrap of paper, glancing over it before looking up at the blond. “This is great Steve, more than enough for us to find something helpful. Do you want me to let you know what I’m able to find?” 

“I don’t want anything to do with this after today,” Steve said, not quite able to meet Nat’s eyes. “Just...whatever your friends come up with, give it all to Tony and keep me out of it from here on out.”   
He didn’t want to see it, but Steve could feel the look of pity Natasha was giving him, and he hated it. 

“Okay, well I guess I’ll head out and try to see if I can’t get a jump start on looking into this,” Nat said, getting her things together before she stood. “I’ll see you guys later,” she said in farewell. 

Steve turned to look at Bucky, confused, and the brunet shrugged. “I figured I could keep you company this weekend,” he offered. As soon as Steve opened his mouth to object, Bucky put up a hand to stop him. “I’m not asking if I can, I’m _telling_ you that I’m keeping you company this weekend.” 

Steve felt himself sag in defeat, too tired to put up a fight. Natasha wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a hug then kissed Bucky on the forehead as she left. Once they were alone, the two men sat on the couch in silence for a few minutes before Steve finally caved and looked at his friend. 

“So, what do we do now,” Steve asked with absolutely no excitement in his voice. 

Bucky smiled brightly. “I thought you’d never ask.”   
\---  
Steve woke up the next morning feeling like shit, again. He’d slept in his bed, so at least he didn’t have the crick in his neck, but that was replaced by the pounding in his head. The previous night’s events slowly became less and less foggy as he gingerly tried to sit up in bed. 

After Natasha had left him in Bucky’s hands, they called Sam over and the trio got to work on getting absolutely wasted. They played drinking games throughout a good portion of the night before that gave way to drunkenly binging episodes of _Cutthroat Kitchen_ , all the while, avoiding any serious conversations. Steve truly would have been grateful for the evening he’d had, if not for the memory of why his friends had come over in the first place. 

Images of the fight he’d had with Tony flooded Steve’s mind, making the throbbing in his head from the budding hangover even worse. He needed water and he needed food, but getting up to get either of those things seemed like an impossible feat. As if on cue, a knock came at his bedroom door. 

“Hey man, it’s Sam, can I come in?”

Steve tried his best to invite his friend in, but all that came out was a grunt. Thankfully, Sam understood that for the invitation that it was, as he walked in carrying a large bottle of Gatorade and a plate of toast and bacon. 

“Figured you’d need these after the night we had,” Sam said, handing over his offerings. 

Steve grabbed the Gatorade, chugging almost half of it before he began scarfing down food. “How are you not hungover right now?” he asked around a mouthful of bacon. 

“I never drink on an empty stomach,” Sam answered before sitting at the edge of the bed, “plus I only stuck to beer while you and Buck tried to empty your apartment of every single drop of alcohol available.” 

Steve groaned, remembering all of the beer, shots, and makeshift cocktails from the night before. “Ugh, just _thinking_ about alcohol makes me want to,” he said, pitifully taking a bite of his toast. “Thanks for the food, by the way.”

The two of them sat there in silence for a moment before Sam cleared his throat. “So…” he began, warily. “Things with Tony seem to not be going so great?”

“What gave you that impression?” Steve asked, sarcastically. 

Sam sighed just as Bucky slowly dragged himself into the room. “Are we having the talk with him?” Bucky asked, holding his head. 

“With how hungover you are, it looks like _I’ll_ be having this talk while you try not to die,” Sam muttered, miraculously pulling out another plate of food and Gatorade for the brunet. “Anyway, we wanted to talk to you, Steve—”

“I really don’t want to do this, okay guys?” Steve interrupted. “I know you all tried to warn me. I know you said I tend to fall quickly and end up getting hurt. I _know_. This whole thing blew up in my face just like you both said it would and from here on out, I’ll make sure never to fall for anyone ever again. Clearly love isn’t in the cards for me so...I get it. You guys don’t have to go into it.” 

“Steve,” Sam said, gently placing a hand on his shoulder, “that’s not what this is about. We wanted to talk to you to see if you were okay and to let you know that we’re here for you. This is a shit situation, and we aren’t here to say ‘I told you so’. We know how much Tony means to you and we’re bummed that things took such a crazy turn.” 

“They always do though, don’t they?” Steve asked, cynically. “With Sharon, Batroc, Rachel, Bernie, Betty, and Peggy, shit hit the fan with _all of them_. Shouldn’t be surprised that everything fell apart before it ever really started with Tony.” 

“You didn’t do anything wrong here, Stevie,” Bucky said, gently. “From what you told us, there’s a whole shitstorm going on that has absolutely nothing to do with you. It sucks that you got swept up in it, but this is not your fault.”

“My fault or not, everything with Tony is fucked now and none of it matters anymore, so let’s just drop this and watch a movie or something.”

Sam and Bucky exchanged a look as Steve stood to go to the living room. They followed behind and, as requested, dropped the subject of Tony entirely. As they geared up for a day of hangover recovery and ‘80s action movies, Steve promised himself that this was it. He’d allow himself to feel sad for the rest of the day, but after that he would be done with Tony Stark for good. It would be easier said than done, but it was a promise he intended to keep.

************

Tony paced around his office, nervously waiting. After he had dropped off Peter, Tony received another text from Tiberius telling him to be ready to meet at Stark Tower on Sunday afternoon. So here Tony was, waiting like an idiot. 

Tiberius Stone had been one of Tony’s childhood friends who became his boyfriend when they were in their late teens. They’d always been enamoured with each other, partially because their fathers were business rivals, so that added a forbidden air to things. On top of that there was always something about Ty that Tony couldn’t resist. Like a moth to a flame, Tony was drawn. 

He really had thought he was happy with Ty at the time, but it didn’t take long to realize that he was becoming a shadow of his former self. Tony had always been boisterous, opinionated and self assured. However, around Ty, he became meek, he never said anything contrary to what Ty thought and he began to doubt himself. It took a lot of convincing from Rhodey and Pepper for Tony to realize that he needed to get out of the relationship, and after a handful of failed attempts, Tony finally walked away. Since then, Tiberius had taken any chance he could get to try to slither his way back into Tony’s life. 

It seemed that this time, the chance Tiberius took was also one he created himself. 

Tony was still fuming over the thought that Steve had been hired as some sort of mole to steal his tech. He wanted to think this plan was low, even for Ty, but Tony knew the man would sink as low as he had to if it meant getting his way. So really, this seemed pretty on brand for Ty, but it was a shock coming from Steve, and that’s what hurt the most. Tony had been falling fast for the blond, but now he wasn’t sure what was true about him and what was made up. Thinking back on all of the time they had spent together, Tony really wanted to find a moment in time that he could pinpoint where he should have realized that Steve was a fraud, but even now, knowing the truth, he still couldn’t see it. 

“Sir, your visitor is here,” JARVIS announced through the room.

Tony stopped pacing and looked toward his closed office door. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to collect himself while also reminding himself that he could do this. Once he felt ready he gave a nod. “Okay, J. Let him in.” 

The office door opened to reveal Tiberius, standing there with his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face. 

“Are you gonna just leave me to stand here or are you going to invite me in?” Ty asked as he quirked his brow. 

“You never needed permission to do whatever you wanted before, I figured today would be no different. But if you need the invitation, then come on in,” Tony said, gesturing towards the armchairs in the far left corner of his office. 

Tony kept his eyes on Ty as he walked in. The man was tall, had bright blond hair and piercing blue eyes. He really was a good looking man, and there was a point in time when Tony wouldn’t have been able to deny him anything. But now, looking at that face, Tony felt a strange sense of confidence knowing that there wasn’t a single thing Ty could say or do to control him now. 

As they sat down, Tony poured them both a glass of water. 

“So,” Ty began, taking a sip from his glass, “great to see you again, it’s been too long.”

“Really? I was going to say it hasn’t been long enough,” Tony quipped. 

“Why such harsh words, Tony? We parted on such good terms the last time we spoke.” 

Tony recalled their last encounter: he was 21 and had stormed out of a nightclub after catching Ty hanging off of some social climber. Ty had tried to sweet talk him, but Tony knew all of the promises to change, to treat him better, to _be_ better, all of it was bullshit and he said as much. Ty didn’t like the idea of being dumped, and promised that Tony would never be able to find anyone who’d love him the way Ty had. In a way, he’d been right. Tony never did find anyone who ‘loved’ him the same way, but mostly because he vowed to never let anyone treat him that way again. 

It was clear what Ty was doing, or trying to do anyway, and Tony was having absolutely none of it. 

“Cut the bullshit, Tiberius. You and I both know why you’re here, so let’s just get to it.” 

The shocked and confused look on Ty’s face quickly gave way to a predatory grin. 

“Tony, I know it’s been a while, but I’m pretty sure we talked about this. If you’ve got a problem, you need to clearly state what it is. I’m not a mind reader, I don’t know what you’re thinking.” 

“You literally texted me, _yesterday_ , about getting your hands on my AI code, you asshole. Don’t pretend that you have no clue what we’re here for.” 

“Ah, yes,” Ty said, nodding, “That.” 

“Yeah, ‘that’. I am curious to find out why you thought you needed to go through all of this corporate espionage to steal something you don’t even know how to use.” 

Ty took a long sip of his water, drawing out this interaction far longer than necessary. 

“Truthfully, Tony, I just wanted the code to work off of so Viastone could sell AI as a service to the military. But I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to fuck with you a little, so here we are!” 

“Was it really worth it, though? Stealing the code, sabotaging the robotics competition, making me fall for Steve, all of that just to stick it to an ex that you allegedly don’t care about at all?” 

“Steve? Who’s Steve?” Ty asked, sitting back and relaxing in his chair. Tony fixed him with an annoyed look, but Ty still didn’t give. 

“Steve, the guy you hired to get close to me all while stealing my intellectual property.” 

The genuine look of confusion on Ty’s face gave way to one of understanding after a moment. “Is Steve that buff blond you've been hanging around? You think I hired him to…” Ty suddenly burst into laughter before he could finish his thought. 

Tony sat in his chair, less than amused as Ty got it all out of his system. It was several minutes before he could actually talk again but once he did, Ty couldn't stop smiling. 

“I have no fucking clue who that Steve guy is. He was some poor sap who for some reason genuinely had feelings for you and I can only assume you ripped him a new one when you thought he had something to do with all of this,” Ty said, gesturing between them. “I honestly only came here to gloat about stealing your code but the fact that you also sabotaged a genuine relationship over this is truly icing on top of an already delicious cake!”

Tony felt a sense of panic creep in at Ty’s words. He tried his best to school his expression to not give too much of himself away, but it seemed to be too late. 

“Oh Tony, you really never were any good at holding on to things that made you happy,” Ty said, moving to stand at Tony’s side and putting a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll leave you with your thoughts for now, but do make sure to keep in touch and keep an eye out for the good news once Viastone becomes the face of weaponized AI.” 

Tony felt himself tense up at the pat on the shoulder Ty gave him before leaving. He had to mentally work through getting his muscles to relax, and yet he still felt some measure of tightness in his chest. Any other day, this feeling may have made Tony think there was something wrong with the arc reactor, but in this instance, he knew this was dread. 

Tiberius was known for doing a lot of things; giving up the chance to gloat about something wasn’t one of them. If he said Steve wasn’t part of this idiotic, convoluted plan, then Tony knew Steve didn’t have anything to do with it. 

Tony had started this day thinking the only headache he’d have was in dealing with Tiberius’ shit, but now he had the added task of figuring out how to fix what he’d fucked up with Steve. Tony sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he thought. If he was going to tackle this mess, he’d need coffee first. As he stood to leave for his workshop, asking JARVIS to get a pot of coffee brewing, Tony gave a small laugh at a passing thought. 

_There’s not nearly enough caffeine on this planet to help make this any easier._  
\---  
The weekend had come and gone in a flash. With all that Tony had done trying to deal with Tiberius, by the time he had a chance to come up for air, he’d realized it was almost midnight on Sunday evening. 

The next morning, Tony was a bit nervous walking into work. Though it was a teacher work day, and he knew Steve wouldn't be there, he dreaded having to see their friends. There was no way their friends hadn't heard about the massive blow up that he and Steve had and now knowing that he was wrong made everything ten times worse. 

Tony had managed to make it into the school without incident, but the second he closed his classroom door, he heard someone clear their throat. Tony turned to see Natasha leaning against a counter at the back of the classroom. 

“Shit,” Tony hissed out, louder than intended. 

“Yeah,” Natasha said nodding. “We’re doing this. Now.”

Tony rolled his eyes and practically sulked his way to his desk. He could feel Natasha’s eyes on him the entire time and once he sat in his chair, he was met with her calculating glare. 

“Okay well have at it then,” Tony said, already exhausted by the thought of this conversation. 

“Have at what?” 

“Me...for losing it on Steve on Friday,” Tony stated, cautiously. 

Natasha tilted her head, considering Tony for a moment. “Do you think your actions are something deserving of us having this talk?”

“Can we just stop dancing around this, please?” Tony snapped. “I know that what I did was an asshole move, I know I fucked up, and I know I need to apologize to Steve.”

“While all of those things are true, I’m not very sure you know just how badly you’ve fucked up here,” Natasha said, moving to show Tony something on her phone. 

When he looked at the screen, all he saw was a picture of handwriting. 

“What is this?” Tony asked. 

“Read it and see.”

Natasha stood by as Tony read through the words that seemed to be a poem or possibly a song. It was beautiful, whatever it was, but Tony still didn’t understand. “Who wrote this?”

“Steve did,” she answered. “He wrote it about you.”

The shocked look on Tony’s face was met with one of sadness from Natasha as she continued.

“Steve’s not the mole who helped Tiberius steal your code. He is so in love with you, Tony, and you accused him not only of stealing your tech but being paid to seduce you as well.” 

Tony flinched at hearing Natasha’s words. He knew this was bad, but he truly had no idea. Steve clearly cared for Tony, much more than he knew. 

“What do I do, Nat? How do I come back from this?” Tony asked, truly realizing how horrible this situation was. 

“Honestly, I don’t know. When I last saw him, he asked me to look into this—” Natasha said, pulling out a manila envelope with a small scrap of paper taped to the front, and handing it to Tony. “After the robotics meet, he’d talked to the DeWitt coach and poked around for as much information as he could. He gave me what he had, and I passed it on to some of my friends to do some digging. Even after you broke his heart, he still wanted to help you get to the bottom of this.”

Tony deflated even more at that. Steve was nothing but an amazing man, and he deserved so much better than so effortlessly being thrown away the way that Tony had. As she stood to leave, Natasha seemed to sense the internal struggle brewing within the brunet. 

“Take this information that I found and sort out this shit with Tiberius. Then, work on winning Steve back.” She leaned over to gingerly place a kiss on Tony’s cheek. “You’ll be able to make this right. I know it.” 

Once Natasha left, Tony sat with his head in his hands for several minutes. He didn’t have it in him to look through the information that Nat’s friends had found, but he knew better than to just sit on this for too long. 

“JARVIS,” Tony said, looking up to speak into the empty room, “Schedule a meeting with Pepper this evening.”

Tony wasn't sure how, but he knew that no matter what, he’d have Tiberius dealt with by the end of the week. For now, though, he needed to put all of his brain power into figuring out how to get Steve back.


	8. Chapter 8

Steve sat at his desk, entering attendance for his first two classes. This was his free period and he figured it’d be best to get a head start on some of his admin work for the day. As he continued going through the list of students, there was a knock at the door. 

“Come in,” he said without looking up. 

“Uh, hey Mr. Rogers, are you busy?” 

Steve instantly recognized the voice as Peter. He looked up, concerned with the clear worry in teen’s voice. “Hey Peter, what’s up?”

“Oh, well Mr. Stark isn’t here today and I usually spend my free period doing stuff around his class. Could I stay here with you just for today?” 

“Of course, Peter. Pull up a seat. I don’t really have any extra work for you to do but if you wanted to do any of your other class work you’re more than welcome to!” 

Peter gave a nod and took a seat at the empty desk. Steve was happy to see the teenager, especially after how things had ended at the robotics meet. Of all the kids on the team, Steve had grown particularly fond of Peter, mainly because of the post team meeting burgers and shakes they’d get with Tony. He’d worried somewhat that after their season, and after the fight he’d had with Tony, that Peter wouldn’t want anything to do with him. Steve was glad to see that he was wrong. 

“Mr. Rogers, do you mind if I ask you a question?” Peter asked, timidly. 

“Not at all, what’s the question?” 

“Okay, well...some of us on the team, we saw you and Mr. Stark get into an argument after the meet on Friday. I just wanted to say that I’m sorry we lost the meet if that’s what you guys were fighting about. We didn’t mean to let you guys down, but I hope...we all hope that you guys can patch things up.” 

Steve sat there, feeling his face grow warmer at Peter’s words. “Peter I…” he stammered trying to think of what to say. 

“It’s just... you and Mr. Stark are the best. We’ve all really loved having you both coach the team and we don’t want you guys to break up because of us.”

“Wait, break up? We didn’t...we never…” 

“So you guys are still dating?” Peter asked, hopeful. 

Steve’s brain was short circuiting; he didn’t know what to say or do now. He’d had no clue that the team had picked up on whatever was going on between him and Tony. It pained Steve to think that their kids had been rooting for them all along, only for things to go by the wayside. 

“Listen, Peter, I’m sorry you all saw that,” Steve began. “Mr. Stark and I definitely were not arguing because of the meet. You all did your absolute best; we know that and we are so proud of each and every one of you. Mr. Stark and I will sort things out, so you and the rest of the team don’t have anything to worry about.” 

Peter nodded, considering Steve’s words but ultimately gave a small smile. “Okay, good. You and Mr. Stark are everyone’s favorite couple so the rest of the team will be glad to hear this. Plus, we’re all excited to have you back as our assistant coach next season!”

Steve kept a smile on his face until Peter went back to whatever he was working on, then he just sank into himself. Steve didn’t have the heart to tell Peter that not only was he likely not returning as assistant coach thanks to the blow up on Friday, but that whatever he and Tony had was assuredly over. There was nothing that needed sorting out at this point; Tony had made it abundantly clear that he wanted nothing to do with Steve. Like it or not, that’s how it would have to be. Peter would learn to accept it, just as Steve would; at least he told himself as much. 

Truth be told, for all the confidence and bravado Steve had over the weekend, it was really settling on him that he’d no longer have Tony in his life, and it hurt. But as badly as it hurt, Steve would be okay; he kept telling himself as much, anyway. Maybe, just maybe, if he said it enough then he’d be able to believe it.   
\---  
Come Friday morning, Steve found himself starting his day in the teacher’s lounge making a small bowl of oatmeal and a cup of coffee. As he sat at the table, Natasha and Clint walked in. 

“Steve, just the man we were looking for,” Clint said, practically skipping into the room. 

“What’s up?” Steve asked, apprehensively. 

“Well, the Fall Formal dance is coming up in a couple of weeks and we need more chaperones,” Natasha said, taking the seat across from him. 

“So...do you need me to help find chaperones or…?”

“No, Steve, we need you to _be_ a chaperone. Why would we ask you to ask around, when we can do that ourselves?” Clint asked and Nat smacked him on the arm. “Ow!” Clint yelped, rubbing his arm. “I was just asking a question.”

“Anyway, as Clint was saying, we’d like you to be a chaperone,” Natasha stated. “All you have to do is give up your Saturday evening to hang out and make sure a bunch of high school kids don’t get up to anything crazy. Also you get to stand around, drinking punch and listening to music.”

“Why are you guys asking me to do this? I’m not even actually a teacher. Aren’t there any other teachers who can help?”

“Everyone in our group is helping with this, Steve. Plus I know you’re not busy.” Natasha replied, giving a small smile and a quirk of her brow. 

Steve silently cursed the fact that Natasha knew everything about him and his life, thanks to her relationship with Bucky. He had no real excuse to get himself out of this and she knew that. He wanted to protest, when a thought hit him. “Did you say _everyone_ in our group would be helping?”

Clint and Natasha shared a look between them before turning to avoid Steve’s eyes. It hadn’t occurred to him that things between their friends would end up being _this_ awkward now that he and Tony weren’t...talking or dating or whatever it was that they were doing before. 

“Guys, I don’t want to make things weird or uncomfortable for anyone. I really probably shouldn’t come,” Steve tried. 

“Don’t be stupid, Steve, you’re just as much a part of our group as Tony is. We need the help and we want you there,” Clint said, confidently meeting Steve’s eyes now. 

“Honestly, the two of you will have to see each other eventually, so we might as well rip the bandaid off now,” Natasha offered. “Plus we’ve all been so busy and it’s the first time in a while that we’ll all get to spend any amount of time together.” 

Steve sighed heavily, taking in the hopeful looks they gave him. He really didn’t want to agree with them, but they were right. Eventually he would have to face Tony; better to do it sooner rather than later. 

“Alright,” Steve said, slightly defeated. “I’ll do it. I’ll help chaperone the dance.” 

“Great,” Natasha said with a large smile. “It’s going to be a great night, Steve, you’ll see.” 

Steve hoped more than anything that Natasha was right. 

************

Tony hadn’t set foot in the school since Monday. After receiving that envelope from Natasha, once the work day was through, he made arrangements for a sub to cover him the rest of the week and immediately went to see Pepper. They parsed through everything together over chinese takeout, and with every new bit of information, Tony found it more and more obvious that he had been so insanely wrong about Steve. 

“I just can’t believe I accused Steve of having any part in this,” Tony said, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. 

“Tony, you didn’t know,” Pepper said, trying to reassure him. 

“I at least _should have_ known he wouldn’t do anything like this. I mean, Ty clearly had to pull some really shitty stuff to make all of this happen. The guy who actually helped him was desperate, otherwise I doubt he would have ever done something of this sort.” 

Thanks to the work that Natasha’s friends had done, Tony and Pepper now knew who the mole was: a man named Kyle Ritter. Kyle was an SI employee with a very sick niece who had been passed up for testing an experimental treatment that they thought might cure her. When Ty approached him, knowing that his family was desperate, and offered to pay him enough to cover treatment for his niece, Kyle couldn’t say no. 

“What do we do now?” Tony asked, once they’d finished going through everything. 

“Well, I think you should let me handle Kyle. I know we want to help with his niece any way we can and to just let him know that he isn’t in trouble and we understand why he did what he did.” Pepper offered. “I’ll let you deal with nipping Ty in the bud. Make sure to let him know I say hi and that he can kindly fuck off.” 

After that evening, Tony practically barricaded himself in his workshop, only letting Pepper in to drop off food, and stopping to take a handful of naps. It took two full days of working before Tony finally felt he’d been able to back Ty into a corner, and it was time to tell him as much. 

Tony sent out a text on Wednesday night before heading to bed.

Tiberius Stone  
  
**Today** 9:34 PM  
Meet me @ 7:00 pm tomorrow. Stark Tower.  
  
See you then.   


Even now, as he sat in his office waiting for Tiberius to arrive, Tony couldn’t help but smile looking at that text. For so much of his life, Tony had felt some odd draw to Ty that he couldn’t break. No matter how badly he wanted to, he just couldn’t shake the man. But now, Tony truly felt that this was it; he’d finally found a way to free himself from the mental hold that Tiberius had had on him for so long.

“Sir, Tiberius Stone has arrived,” JARVIS said.

This oddly felt like deja vu, with the exception that Tony was actually excited to see Ty this time. “Let him in, J,” Tony said, settling into his office chair. 

Tiberius walked into the room, looking as if he’d just come from a board meeting, dressed immaculately in a suit. “Tony, to what do I owe the honor of having two meetings with you in one week?”

“This is literally still about you stealing from me. How do you keep forgetting about this?” Tony asked playfully. 

That stopped Ty in his tracks. “You seem to have a different air about you than you did when I was last here. What’s got you in such great spirits? Fix things with your buff blond?” 

Tony’s smile faltered at the mention of Steve, but he pressed on. “No, things on that front are sufficiently fucked, thanks to you. I’m in a good mood because I think I figured out a way for us to both get what we want out of this situation with the AI.” 

Ty looked at Tony, a bit confused. “I think you misunderstood our last interaction. I’m not looking to partner or compromise here. I literally just wanted to steal your code and fuck with you as I did it. You’ve served your purpose here, I don’t need or want anything else from you at this point.” 

“Oh, okay, well I wasn’t really asking if you’d compromise here. I’m not even _telling_ you to compromise,” Tony said, pushing a tablet in Ty’s direction. 

“What is this?” Ty asked, looking over the information in front of him.

“Well, Tiberius, you see, this was what I called you here to talk about. The AI code that you had my employee steal for you, just so happened to have a failsafe built into it. Basically anything that runs this code automatically has JARVIS on it. Once he’s got enough time to connect to those systems, JARVIS is able to run everything that implements that code...meaning _I’m_ able to run everything that implements that code.” 

It took a moment for everything to click in his mind, but once it did, Ty’s eyes went wide. 

“But...if that’s the case, why weren’t you able to control the bot from DeWitt?”

“Great question, Ty! It was a matter of just connecting to that bot. Since I had no clue the code was stolen, I didn’t have JARVIS looking out for any new machines to connect to. Thank you, by the way, for pointing out that glaring oversight. From now on, I’ll have JARVIS constantly checking for new machines running my code.” 

Ty was frantically going through everything on the tablet, desperately looking for a way to get back on top of all of this, when he stopped. “What is this? Why do you have one of my bank statements?”

“Ah, yeah, that.” Tony said, nodding his head solemnly. “Well, we needed proof that you actually paid Kyle, like you said you would, so I asked JARVIS to pull that up once he’d had access to all of your systems and information.” 

“How did you get access to any of my stuff? I’ve never connected my machines to anything that JARVIS controls”

“Your phone is currently connected to my wifi plus your password isn't hard to guess. This whole back and forth between us also gave J enough time to get into all of your systems and get the information that we needed. So…” 

Tiberius slumped down in his seat at that moment. “What do you want?” he asked, defeated. 

“I don’t _want_ anything.” Tony began, looking slightly offended. “I literally just invited you here to tell you that your scheme epically backfired. Also to let you know that if you don’t want me to let your board and the media know about how you took advantage of an uncle who was just trying to help out his very sick niece, you’ll go back under the troll bridge you crawled out of and leave me the fuck alone for the forseeable future. Otherwise, you’ve served your purpose here, I don’t need or want anything else from you at this point.” Tony finished, throwing Ty’s words back at him. 

“Fine, I’ll leave you alone. Just...uninstall JARVIS and don’t leak any of this information.” 

“I can definitely keep what I’ve found under wraps but you can’t really just uninstall JARVIS. We have no real reason to go through any of Viastone’s servers from here on out but just remember that all the company’s sensitive information lives in my AI’s brain now so...that’d be another great reason not to piss me off, lest I tell your board about that huge fuck up on your part, as well.” 

The look on Ty’s face told Tony that the man would no longer be causing any problems. He clapped his hands together before standing. “Alright well, I’m done here, unless you have anything else to say, you’re welcome to go.” Tony walked to hold the door open, and smiled as Ty walked out. “Oh, shoot, I forgot one more thing, Pepper sends her regards and wants you to kindly fuck off.” He slammed the door without giving Ty a chance to respond. 

Tony let out a huge breath once he was alone. He was blessedly, finally rid of Tiberius Stone, and though it felt good knowing he was free of that asshole, that realization only brought on a heavier one with it. Now that he’d fixed the AI issue, he had to work on sorting things out with Steve. Tony silently wished he had a failsafe for this monumental fuck up, as he settled into his desk chair, gearing up for a long night of figuring out how to fix the mess he had caused.   
\---  
The next day, Tony stopped by the school to grab some items to grade over the weekend. While in his classroom, Natasha stopped by. 

“Are you stalking me? There’s seriously no way you’re able to just _be_ where I am all the time without you stalking me,” Tony said, leaning back against his desk.

“This is your classroom, it’s fair to assume you’d be here. Plus I saw you walking past the teacher’s lounge.” Natasha said, sounding annoyed despite her slightly amused smile. “Where have you been all week?” 

“I was off dealing with corporate espionage, you know how it is.” 

“Ah, so you weren’t just trying to avoid Steve?” 

“I...no,” Tony answered, unconvincingly. “Though I can see how one might think that. I really was spending that entire time dealing with Ty. Thanks again for your help with that.” Tony picked up a few papers from his desk just to have something to shuffle through, hoping that he could delay this conversation. 

“I need you to chaperone the Fall Formal in a couple of weeks,” Natasha said. 

“You what?” Tony asked, genuinely startled. 

“All of us in the group are helping to chaperone the dance and we need you to help.”

“I don’t want to do that. Plus Steve is going to be there and—I don’t want to chaperone a bunch of kids at some dumb dance, Nat.” 

Natasha narrowed her eyes at him, and Tony felt a chill run down his spine. The last thing he ever wanted was to be on Natasha’s bad side and it seemed he was working towards getting there. 

“I had to call in a lot of favors to figure out who the mole at SI was, so the least you can do is chaperone this dance, Tony.” 

“But—”

“No ‘but’s, you’re doing it. Don’t make me call Pepper about this,” Natasha threatened. 

Tony pouted as he nodded ‘okay’. 

“ _Khoroshiy mal'chik_ ” Nat said, ruffling the brunet’s hair. 

Tony scrunched his nose and swatted her hand away, causing Nat to laugh. They sat there in silence for a moment before she stood. “You still have a chance, you know. Don’t give up just yet,” she said before walking out of the room. 

Tony gave a sad smile as she left, hoping more than anything that she was right.


	9. Chapter 9

It had been a little over a week since Steve had last seen Tony, and though he missed him immensely, life without him was getting a little easier. At least until Steve went for his Sunday morning run and his feet subconsciously took him to the Brooklyn Bridge Park. When he realized where he was, Steve’s heart sank. Here was a place that always brought a sad sort of happiness to his life, thinking of his time here with his mom, and now, he felt that same sad happiness thinking about his one day here with Tony. As he ran by the carousel, Steve strained his ears trying to hear what song was playing. He heard a few notes from _All My Loving_ and felt some weird kind of pleased possessiveness, hoping that they never play for anyone else on that ride again. That song belonged to him and Tony...or at least it belonged to the Steve and Tony that existed before this whole mess. 

Steve spent the rest of that day trying hard to let go of all of the hopes he’d had for them. He remembered being so excited every day he went to work, wondering what ridiculous things he and Tony would talk about or get up to after work. He loved his time with the robotics team, watching the kids learn how to think more strategically, but he loved getting to see Tony pour so much of his knowledge into their team even more. Steve had wanted nothing more than just to watch Tony do any of the things that made him happy, because that’s when his beauty truly shined through. But now, those memories just made Steve’s heart ache in a way he hadn’t felt since being discharged from the military. So many hopes and dreams ahead of him that had been within his reach but ultimately ripped away. 

What made this worse, though, was that at least Steve understood why he had been discharged; but for the life of him, he couldn’t understand this. It hurt, realizing that he trusted Tony so completely, but those feelings clearly weren’t reciprocated. Steve supposed he really only had himself to blame here though. Most people didn’t fall in love as fast as Steve did, and as history showed, they certainly didn’t fall that fast for _him_. He couldn’t fault Tony for that, but Steve couldn’t wrap his head around what made Tony turn on him so quickly. Either way, it didn’t really matter now. Steve just needed to come to terms with the fact that his relationship with Tony would never be what he had hoped it would. 

That thought had begun to sink in the next morning, until Steve walked into his office to find Tony standing there. Over a week of not seeing the brunet had apparently caused Steve’s memory to go a little fuzzy, because seeing him here, it seemed that Tony was even more gorgeous than he had remembered. 

“Hey,” Tony said, just above a whisper. 

It took every ounce of willpower within him not to let out a very undignified whimper at the timid smile on Tony’s face. When he had composed himself, Steve gave a small nod. “Hey. What are you doing here?”

“Oh, well I wanted to bring Sprocket by; I figured you should have him. Plus every time my bots see him, they assume you’re coming by the workshop so they get excited and I end up having to play fetch with them. It’s a whole thing,” Tony said rubbing the back of his neck. 

Steve walked over to pick up Sprocket. “Thank you, Tony,” he said with a sad smile. 

They stood there in awkward silence for a moment before Tony cleared his throat. 

“Listen, I...I know the last time we spoke, I said a lot of really awful stuff. I can’t even begin to say how sorry I truly am for everything. This massive asshole Tiberius Stone was behind my code being stolen and if it weren’t for the help we got from you and Natasha, Pepper and I would still be trying to figure out who the mole at SI was. I shouldn’t have said any of the things I said about you, I _know_ they’re not true. I should have never doubted you or your character for a second, and I just hope you can accept my apology.” 

Steve couldn’t take his eyes off of the bot in his hands. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to bear seeing the look on the brunet’s face. “I appreciate you coming by and saying that, Tony. Your words mean a lot to me, truly.” Steve began, sadness seeping into his voice. “I accept your apology, but the things you said really hurt me. I think we can be friendly in the teacher’s lounge or at school events, but right now I just...I can’t deal with anything more than that with you.” 

When he didn’t get a response, Steve looked up to see the heartbroken look on the brunet’s face.

“Tony—” Steve spoke, wanting to ask if he’d be okay. 

Tony waved him off. “It’s okay, honestly, Steve. I get it. Thanks for hearing me out, and I guess I’ll see you around.” 

Tony walked out of the office, leaving Steve all alone. He chewed his bottom lip wondering if he’d done the right thing, but Steve knew if he had any hope of getting over this, he needed to let Tony go. He looked down at Sprocket, now having another item to add to the list of things that evoked that feeling of sad happiness. He placed the bot on his desk and sighed, walking out of the office to get the gym ready for the day.   
\---  
The rest of the week had gone by fairly uneventfully. Steve ran into Tony a couple of times in the teacher’s lounge and they exchanged pleasantries, but nothing more than that. It was painful seeing the light leave Tony’s eyes almost immediately upon seeing Steve, but he knew this was best for the both of them. Maybe one day they might be able to get back to some semblance of a friendship, but at the moment, this was all Steve could handle. 

He sat in his apartment, making some popcorn and grabbing a bottle of beer before turning on Netflix. He searched through movies, settling on _Tremors_ and smiled. All Steve wanted to do was kick back and mindlessly watch one of his favorite movies, but a knock on the door threw a wrench in his plan. He let the intro credits continue rolling, as he moved to answer the door. Once he opened it, Steve found a very tall, beautiful redheaded woman standing there in heels and a gray dress suit. 

“Hi, ma’am can I help you?” Steve asked. 

“You must be Steve Rogers,” the woman said with a kind smile. 

“Yes, that’s me. May I ask who you are?” 

“I’m uhm...I’m Pepper Potts. I’d really like to come in and talk if it’s not a bad time.” 

Steve stood aside to let Pepper in. He suddenly became very aware of how much of a mess both he and his place were. He quickly tried to pick up what he could, as Pepper made her way to the living room couch. “Can I get you anything to drink: water, tea, coffee?”

“Water would be great, thank you.” Pepper replied from her seat. “Do you mind if I take off my shoes? It’s been quite a long day on my feet.”

“Not at all, please make yourself at home.” Steve answered, grabbing two bottles of water from the fridge. 

As he rounded the couch, Steve noticed that Pepper had tucked her legs up onto the couch. The fact that she took his invitation to make herself at home to heart put a smile on his face. “Here ya go,” he said offering up the water. “I hope bottled water is fine.”

“This is perfect,” Pepper affirmed, looking down at the bottle momentarily. “So, I’m sure you know who I am, but I’m not so sure you know why I’m here.”

“You’re the CEO of Stark Industries; you’re Tony’s friend,” Steve said, knowing full well that didn’t come close to describing who Pepper was to Tony. She was his right hand, his soulmate, she was everything to him. That she was meeting him for the first time in his home, after everything that’s happened, scared the shit out of Steve. 

“Everything is okay with Tony,” Pepper assured, answering the question Steve hadn’t asked. “He actually doesn’t know I’m here. I got your address from Natasha the other day, and just wanted to talk to you.” 

“With all due respect, I don’t really think there’s much else that you could say to me that everyone else hasn’t,” Steve stated. 

“I’m sure your friends have been trying their best to help, but I know Tony better than anyone, and I really think you deserve to have the full picture before you decide if you want him out of your life.” 

Steve thought over her words, deciding that it couldn’t hurt much to just listen to what she had to say. “Okay,” he quietly agreed. 

“Alright well, to start, I guess I should say there really is no excuse for the things Tony said to you, that was absolutely unacceptable, and I’m sorry it happened at all. But please know that his words weren’t coming from a place of him not trusting you.”

“Where were they coming from, then?” 

Pepper sighed, clearly trying to sort out the best way to explain her thoughts. “Tony’s led the kind of life where most everything good that comes his way comes with a price. In the world of wealth and business, it’s best to protect yourself at all costs. Unfortunately because he’s been used more times than anyone can count, Tony had to learn pretty early to also protect his heart at all costs. 

“He has always been extremely guarded. It took years of hard work, patience and love for me and Rhodey to get anywhere close to where you were in your friendship with him. I don’t even think _he_ realizes how easily he let you in,” Pepper said with a sad smile. “I think in the end, it was easier for Tony to believe that you were so perfect because you were playing a part, rather than believing that you are who you say you are and for some reason you chose him.” 

Steve physically flinched at Pepper’s last few words. She laid it out so plainly; that Tony accused him so easily not because he didn’t trust Steve, but because he didn’t know how to accept the fact that someone could love him without any strings attached. Steve’s heart hurt for all that Tony must have gone through to think so little of himself and what he deserved from the world around him. 

“I uh....” Steve stammered, having to clear his throat to stop the lump that was forming. “I’m not sure though, that there’s much I can do at this point.” 

“I’m sure you’ll be able to think of something,” Pepper placed a reassuring hand on Steve’s arm, smiling at him all the while. “Well, I should probably get going, but thank you for listening and for the water.” Pepper said, standing to put on her heels again. 

“Thank you for sharing this with me, Pepper. I really appreciate it,” Steve said, walking her to the door. 

“Any time, Steve. By the way, you might want to tell Natasha not to go around sharing your address with just anyone. Some crazy woman might show up and try to talk you into giving her best friend a second chance,” Pepper said, giving a wink before leaving. 

As Steve closed the door, his mind was still reeling from all that Pepper had shared with him. He wanted to sit down and really think over everything he’d been told but he had something he needed to do first. Steve walked back over to the couch, and settled with his popcorn and his beer. Before he could sort any of this out with Tony, he wanted to mindlessly watch his favorite movie first. 

************

Tony sat at his desk, enjoying his coffee and a donut as he looked over a few extra credit assignments. There was a point in time when he would have easily done this in the teacher’s lounge, but with the way things were between him and Steve, it was just easier avoiding that room altogether. Tony wanted to talk to Steve again, try to get things back on track, but he didn’t want to seem as if he didn’t respect Steve’s wishes. For now, avoiding the man at all costs looked to be the best option. 

One of the positives from all of this, though, was that Bruce would visit Tony in his classroom on a daily basis now. Something to do with him wanting to make sure Tony was doing alright. He kind of hated the idea of someone thinking they needed to regularly check up on him, but Tony would never say no to more time with his Bruce. 

As if on cue, Bruce walked through the door. 

“Brucie!” Tony exclaimed, going to give his friend a hug. “Fancy meeting you here.” 

“Tony, you literally asked me to come by today at this exact time,” Bruce said, rolling his eyes fondly. 

“Well, I still appreciate that you know how to follow directions. Seems like a lost art these days,” Tony quipped, taking a seat atop of one of the work stations. “So, how are things with1 everyone in the outside world?” 

“Things are alright, we miss you in the lounge though,” Bruce gently began. 

“Bruce, we’ve been through this before, I can’t—”

“No one banished you to your classroom, Tony. You can come in and spend time there while still respecting what Steve said.”

“I just want to give him his space, and maybe in time he’ll change his mind about everything,” Tony replied, sadness in his voice. 

“I’m no relationship expert, but I get the feeling that completely avoiding Steve isn’t the way to get him to take you back,” Bruce offered. 

“What would you suggest I do then, oh wise one?”

“Well, in the movies, it seems like people always make a grand gesture at some kind of event to win back their love interests. Maybe you could do something like that.”

Both Tony and Bruce turned to see Peter standing in the doorway, fiddling with his backpack strap. 

“Where did you come from?” Tony asked, trying to hide how startled he had initially been. 

“My last class let out early, so I figured I'd get a jump start helping you out today. From the sounds of it, you need all the help you can get,” Peter teased.

“Hey,” Tony cried as Bruce barked out a laugh. “I regret ever thinking either of you were on my list of favorite people,” Tony said, crossing his arms in a huff. 

“Peter’s got a point. It might take some grand gesture for the two of you to get past this,” Bruce reasoned. 

“Where’s the event that I should enact this grand gesture?” Tony asked, annoyed with himself for even entertaining this. 

Bruce and Peter thought over the question, when the teen snapped his fingers. “The dance that’s coming up might be a good option.” 

Tony tossed the idea around in his head. He knew that Steve would also be chaperoning the dance, and figured that this would be a last ditch effort. If this didn’t work, he’d leave Steve alone, for good. 

“Even though I think you’re right, Peter, I’ve gotta say it’s a little disconcerting that you’re _this_ involved in my love life,” Tony observed. 

“Well, Mr. Stark, you’ve done a lot for me, and I think you deserve to be happy,” Peter said, earnestly. “Plus, you and Mr. Rogers are the best couple any of us have ever met, so I’ll do anything to make sure you guys make it!” 

Tony smiled at Peter, wondering how he ever got so lucky as to have such a great student in his life. “Well, kid, it’s still pretty weird to have your help with any of this, but I appreciate it all the same. Now, Bruce,” Tony said, clapping Bruce on the shoulder, “I’m going to need your help putting this whole plan together.”  
“Why do I have to help bring it together? This is all Peter’s idea,” Bruce whined.

“Exactly. Peter pulled his weight, now it’s time for you to contribute to this group project.”

Bruce groaned and rolled his eyes as Tony rolled up his sleeves, ready to get to work. If this was going to be his last effort to win Steve back, Tony was for damn sure going to make it a good one. 

\---

It took a few days, but by Saturday Tony felt that his plan (which Peter so lovingly named Operation Robot Hearts) had come together. To say he was nervous for the dance was an understatement, but if the nerves didn’t kill him, the slight embarrassment at his life turning into a 90s rom-com would. Tony really didn’t know how he’d ended up at this point; leaning on one of his former students and a few of his friends to help him sort out his relationship, but he was here now and despite everything, he felt hopeful. 

Over the past few days, Tony had put out feelers to see if there was even a point in trying to win Steve back. He began stopping in the teacher’s lounge for a few minutes at a time when he knew the blond was likely to be there. On the first day, Steve had greeted him and asked how his day had gone. The following day, Steve mentioned a documentary on black holes he’d seen that he thought Tony might like. On day three, Steve asked a question about his ‘67 Camaro while chatting with Clint and Thor, which led to all four of them laughing and joking about their first cars. It felt like old times again, but more than that, it felt like Steve was letting him in again, little by little. It was that knowledge that gave him the courage to go through with Operation Robot Hearts. 

It was also that knowledge that completely stumped Tony when he got to the dance and Steve was very obviously avoiding him. Initially, he’d assumed that Steve had just been too busy talking to other students and teachers to realize he was there. But as the evening went on, Steve managed to dodge any attempts Tony made to speak with him. It seemed that their friends noticed as well. Natasha tried to bring Steve over to the rest of the group at one point, but once he spotted Tony, he excused himself to the restroom. It was confusing, to say the least, but it also sucked the wind out of Tony’s sails. The confidence he’d had at the beginning of the night had dissipated and turned into nothing but doubt. 

Everything came to a head when Peter approached Tony with the rest of the robotics team. 

“Mr. Stark, will you take a team picture with us?” Peter asked, pulling Tony along without giving him a chance to actually answer. 

Peter fussed with Tony, placing him amongst the group just so, smiling once he was satisfied with his work. “Perfect,” he said, turning to look at the camera. 

It only took a split second to realize that Peter had placed Tony next to Steve, standing with them on either side behind him. It was evident that Peter was pleased with himself, even if Tony wasn’t able to see the smug grin on the boy’s face. The second the flash went off, Tony felt the man beside him tense up. He quickly turned to smile up at Steve, but was met with a look of apprehension. Tony wondered, momentarily, if he should just give up and call the whole night a failure, but the second his phone began to vibrate in his pocket, he knew that it was now or never. 

“Hey,” Tony said, chastising himself internally for such a lame greeting. 

Steve stood there, looking like a deer in headlights. It took a moment for his brain to seemingly reboot, before he said anything. “Hey, Tony. I was just about to—”

“Please don’t leave,” Tony blurted out. There was a laundry list of things he had been planning to say, but in the moment, Tony was annoyed more than anything. “I’ve practically been chasing you down all evening and you’ve very obviously been trying to avoid me. I want to know why.” 

“We...we really shouldn’t do this here,” Steve said quietly, gesturing for Tony to lower his voice. 

“Why shouldn’t we, Steve? You apparently only want to talk to me within the confines of the walls of this school, so where else am I supposed to talk to you about this?”

Steve grabbed Tony’s arm, pulling him towards the back of the gym and away from the dance floor. “Listen,” Steve started, voice still hushed, “I don’t think it’d really be appropriate for us to have a conversation about personal matters in front of a bunch of students.” 

Tony was ready to let Steve have a piece of his mind when a look of recognition came over the blond’s face. He turned to the stage to look at the man singing, before turning back towards Tony. “Is this—” Steve began, not able to finish asking his question. 

“I thought you might appreciate hearing your favorite version of this song, so I figured why not invite the artist to sing it live,” Tony answered, hoping that his voice didn’t sound as nervous as he felt. 

On stage was Going Spaceward, the man who sang the cover of _Fly Me To The Moon_ that Steve had become enamored with. The pair stood silently enjoying the beautiful song. Tony felt his heart pounding a mile a minute, distantly wondering if this much stress was bad for the arc reactor, as he waited for the biggest surprise of all. 

As the second chorus ended, a guitar strum sounded.   
_They say that every day the universe expands,  
and we discover certain things that we don’t understand.   
Dark matter ain’t the only mystery at hand.   
I’m wonderin’ how I got a guy like you to say that I’m his man _

Tony couldn’t take his eyes off of Steve as it registered with the blond that his words had been added to the song. Steve turned to look at him, amazed. All Tony could do was smile and nod. As they listened to Steve’s words being sung, Tony took a chance, reaching out for Steve’s hand. The blond laced their fingers without missing a beat, gently squeezing Tony’s hand for good measure. Tony felt like his heart was soaring as they continued listening to the song.

It was all over almost as quickly as it began. Once the last few notes of the song sounded, Steve slowly took back his hand and took a step back. “I need some air,” he stammered, before quickly leaving the gym. 

Tony found himself glued to that spot as he looked off in the direction that Steve had gone. 

“What just happened?” Natasha asked, seemingly coming out of nowhere. 

“He...Steve held my hand. We were _this close_ to getting this right, then the song ended and he just...he left to get some air.” 

“Okay so…” Natasha started, looking at Tony expectantly. When it became clear Tony had no clue what she wanted from him, she sighed. “Go after him!” 

“I don’t know where he went!” Tony exclaimed. 

“Check the first place you both met and go from there,” Natasha offered, giving Tony a reassuring pat on the arm before turning to address a few rowdy students. 

Tony left the gym, racking his brain to figure out where the blond would be, when it hit him. He ran out to the parking lot, looking around until he found Steve’s car. Tony took a moment, seeing Steve sitting with his eyes closed, just like on his first day. He smiled as he gently knocked at the window, startling the blond. 

“We’ve really got to stop meeting like this,” Tony said, teasingly. Steve gave a slightly embarrassed smile that nearly knocked Tony to his knees. “Mind if I join you?” he asked. 

Steve tilted his head toward the passenger seat and unlocked the door in lieu of a reply. Tony accepted the invitation, and walked over to take his seat. Once in the car, Steve sighed. 

“How did you know to find me here?” Steve asked, keeping his eyes on the steering wheel.   
“I honestly just hoped that you remembered the advice I gave you at the beginning of the school year,” Tony joked. 

“‘There’s no place more private here than a car in the parking lot the night of a school dance’. Honestly, that’s been the best advice I’ve gotten since starting my job here” Steve laughed and shook his head. “I didn’t think…” he began, but groaned in frustration before starting again.

“I’m a man who is great at strategy. I try my best to look at every option, to plan for any outcome, and yet somehow I didn’t plan for this...for you.” Steve said, finally looking at Tony. “I thought that maybe with enough time, I’d be able to perfectly plan out whatever it is we have, but then life happened and unexpected wrenches were thrown into the mix and— things that I can’t figure out are terrifying to me, and what we have has been the biggest puzzle I’ve ever encountered in my entire life.” 

Tony tentatively reached out for Steve’s hand, still somewhat shocked when the blond welcomed the gesture and laced their fingers together. 

“I’ve learned a lot of things in all my years of being...me,” Tony stated, looking down at their fingers intertwined. “Unfortunately one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is to question anything decent that comes into my life. I’ve been burned by a lot of people in the past, and I get that you weren’t any of those people, but all of them left lasting scars that manifested as me assuming anyone as funny, and smart and… _good_ as you couldn’t be real.” Tony said, rubbing his thumb over the back of Steve’s hand. “But you are, and you’re so much better than I ever could have imagined. I just—my only hope is that you can forgive me, and give me another chance to show you how much you truly mean to me.”

They sat in silence for a moment, before Steve gingerly lifted Tony’s chin to look at him. Steve searched his eyes for what felt like ages, before leaning in to press his lips to the brunet’s. Once he pulled away, Steve let out a small laugh. 

“I feel like we’re fulfilling every prom night trope that’s ever been included in any movie.”

“Well, the way this relationship has been going, you’ve got a lot more of that to look forward to,” Tony said around a laugh of his own. 

Steve looked at him, beaming. “I think I’m okay with that,” he said before pulling Tony into another kiss. 

There was a laundry list of things that Tony had planned to say in this moment; so many unsaid ‘I love you’s that needed to be shared. But for now, Tony figured that letting Steve kiss him breathless would do just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Fly Me To The Moon (cover)](https://soundcloud.com/going-spaceward/fly-me-to-the-moon)
> 
> Thank you all so so much for reading along! And keeps your eyes peeled for a little addition to come some time down the line!


End file.
